II 

Calendar No. 494 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4973 

To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine the general 

applicability of the criminal laws of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. 

REED, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

HICKENLOOPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Ms. BUTLER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. KING, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mr. PADILLA, Mr. PETERS, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. SMITH, Mr. KELLY, and 

Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read the first 

time 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine the general applicability of the criminal laws of 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Kings Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

5 (1) no person, including any President, is above 

6 the law; 

7 (2) Congress, under the Necessary and Proper 

8 Clause of section 8 of article I of the Constitution 

9 of the United States, has the authority to determine 

10 to which persons the criminal laws of the United 

11 States shall apply, including any President; 

12 (3) the Constitution of the United States does 

13 not grant to any President any form of immunity 

14 (whether absolute, presumptive, or otherwise) from 

15 criminal prosecution, including for actions com16 mitted while serving as President; 

17 (4) in The Federalist No. 69, Alexander Ham18 ilton wrote that there must be a difference between 

19 the ‘‘sacred and inviolable’’ king of Great Britain 

20 and the President of the United States, who ‘‘would 

21 be amenable to personal punishment and disgrace’’ 

22 should his actions violate the laws of the United 

23 States; 

24 (5) the United States District Court for the 

25 District of Columbia correctly concluded in United 

26 States v. Trump, No. 23–257 (TSC), 2023 WL 


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1 8359833 (D.D.C. December 1, 2023) that ‘‘former 

2 Presidents do not possess absolute federal criminal 

3 immunity for any acts committed while in office’’, 

4 that former Presidents ‘‘may be subject to federal 

5 investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, 

6 and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken 

7 while in office’’, and that a ‘‘four-year service as 

8 Commander in Chief [does] not bestow on [a Presi9 dent] the divine right of kings to evade the criminal 

10 accountability that governs his fellow citizens’’; 

11 (6) similarly, the United States Court of Ap12 peals for the District of Columbia Circuit correctly 

13 affirmed in United States v. Trump, 91 F.4th 1173 

14 (D.C. Cir. 2024) that ‘‘separation of powers doctrine 

15 does not immunize former Presidents from federal 

16 criminal liability’’ for their official actions that ‘‘al17 legedly violated generally applicable criminal laws’’ 

18 and acknowledged that the Founding Fathers 

19 ‘‘stresse[d] that the President must be unlike the 

20 ‘king of Great Britain,’ who was ‘sacred and invio21 lable.’ The Federalist No. 69, at 337–38’’; 

22 (7) the Supreme Court of the United States, 

23 however, vacated the judgment of the court of ap24 peals and incorrectly declared in Trump v. United 

25 States, No. 23–939, 2024 WL 3237603 (U.S. July 


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1 1, 2024) that ‘‘the President is absolutely immune 

2 from criminal prosecution for conduct within his ex3 clusive sphere of constitutional authority’’ and that 

4 a President ‘‘is entitled, at a minimum, to a pre5 sumptive immunity from prosecution for all his offi6 cial acts’’, assertions at odds with the plain text of 

7 the Constitution of the United States; and 

8 (8) Congress has explicit and broad authority to 

9 make exceptions and regulations to the appellate ju10 risdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States 

11 under clause 2 of section 2 of article III of the Con12 stitution of the United States. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

14 (1) reassert the constitutional authority of Con15 gress to determine the general applicability of the 

16 criminal laws of the United States, including to 

17 Presidents and Vice Presidents; 

18 (2) clarify that a President or Vice President is 

19 not entitled to any form of immunity from criminal 

20 prosecution for violations of the criminal laws of the 

21 United States unless specified by Congress; and 

22 (3) impose certain limitations on the appellate 

23 jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United 

24 States to decide questions related to criminal immu25 nity for Presidents and Vice Presidents. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY FOR CRIMES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 (1) NO IMMUNITY.—A President, former Presi4 dent, Vice President, or former Vice President shall 

5 not be entitled to any form of immunity (whether 

6 absolute, presumptive, or otherwise) from criminal 

7 prosecution for alleged violations of the criminal 

8 laws of the United States unless specified by Con9 gress. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—A court of the United 

11 States may not consider whether an alleged violation 

12 of the criminal laws of the United States committed 

13 by a President or Vice President was within the con14 clusive or preclusive constitutional authority of a 

15 President or Vice President or was related to the of16 ficial duties of a President or Vice President unless 

17 directed by Congress. 

18 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to immunize a President, former 

20 President, Vice President, or former Vice President from 

21 criminal prosecution for alleged violations of the criminal 

22 laws of the States. 

23 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

24 (a) CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS.—Notwithstanding any 

25 other provision of law, for any criminal proceeding com26 menced by the United States against a President, former 


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1 President, Vice President, or former Vice President for al2 leged violations of the criminal laws of the United States, 

3 the following rules shall apply: 

4 (1) The action shall be filed in the applicable 

5 district court of the United States or the United 

6 States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

7 (2) The Supreme Court of the United States 

8 shall have no appellate jurisdiction, on the basis that 

9 an alleged criminal act was within the conclusive or 

10 preclusive constitutional authority of a President or 

11 Vice President or on the basis that an alleged crimi12 nal act was related to the official duties of a Presi13 dent or Vice President, to (or direct another court 

14 of the United States to)— 

15 (A) dismiss an indictment or any other 

16 charging instrument; 

17 (B) grant acquittal or dismiss or otherwise 

18 terminate a criminal proceeding; 

19 (C) halt, suspend, disband, or otherwise 

20 impede the functions of any grand jury; 

21 (D) grant a motion to suppress or bar evi22 dence or testimony, or otherwise exclude infor23 mation from a criminal proceeding; 

24 (E) grant a writ of habeas corpus, a writ 

25 of coram nobis, a motion to set aside a verdict 


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1 or judgment, or any other form of post-convic2 tion or collateral relief; 

3 (F) overturn a conviction; 

4 (G) declare a criminal proceeding unconsti5 tutional; or 

6 (H) enjoin or restrain the enforcement or 

7 application of a law. 

8 (b) CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES.—Notwith9 standing any other provision of law, for any civil action 

10 brought for declaratory, injunctive, or other relief to ad11 judge the constitutionality, whether facially or as-applied, 

12 of any provision of this Act (including this section), or 

13 to bar or restrain the enforcement or application of any 

14 provision of this Act (including this section) on the ground 

15 of its unconstitutionality, the following rules shall apply: 

16 (1) A plaintiff may bring a civil action under 

17 this subsection, and there shall be no other cause of 

18 action available. 

19 (2) Only a President, former President, Vice 

20 President, or former Vice President shall have 

21 standing to bring a civil action under this sub22 section. 

23 (3) A facial challenge to the constitutionality of 

24 any provision of this Act (including this section) 

25 may only be brought not later than 180 days after 


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1 the date of enactment of this Act. An as-applied 

2 challenge to the constitutionality of the enforcement 

3 or application of any provision of this Act (including 

4 this section) may only be brought not later than 90 

5 days after the date of such enforcement or applica6 tion. 

7 (4) A court of the United States shall presume 

8 that a provision of this Act (including this section) 

9 or the enforcement or application of any such provi10 sion is constitutional unless it is demonstrated by 

11 clear and convincing evidence that such provision or 

12 its enforcement or application is unconstitutional. 

13 (5) The civil action shall be filed in the United 

14 States District Court for the District of Columbia, 

15 which shall have exclusive jurisdiction of a civil ac16 tion under this subsection. An appeal may be taken 

17 from the district court to the United States Court 

18 of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 

19 which shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear an ap20 peal in a civil action under this subsection. 

21 (6) In a civil action under this subsection, a de22 cision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 

23 District of Columbia Circuit shall be final and not 

24 appealable to the Supreme Court of the United 

25 States. 


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1 (7) The Supreme Court of the United States 

2 shall have no appellate jurisdiction to declare any 

3 provision of this Act (including this section) uncon4 stitutional or to bar or restrain the enforcement or 

5 application of any provision of this Act (including 

6 this section) on the ground of its unconstitutionality. 

7 (c) CLARIFYING SCOPE OF JURISDICTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an action at the time of 

9 its commencement is not subject to subsection (a) or 

10 (b), but an amendment, counterclaim, cross-claim, 

11 affirmative defense, or any other pleading or motion 

12 is filed such that the action would be subject to sub13 section (a) or (b), the action shall thereafter be con14 ducted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), as applica15 ble. 

16 (2) STATE COURTS.—An action subject to sub17 section (a) or (b) may not be heard in any State 

18 court. 

19 (3) SUA SPONTE RELIEF.—No court may issue 

20 relief sua sponte on the ground that a provision of 

21 this Act (including this section), or its enforcement 

22 or application, is unconstitutional. 

23 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

24 If any provision of this Act, or application of such 

25 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4973.PCS S4973

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1 constitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the applica2 tion of the provisions of this Act to any person or cir3 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 


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Calendar No. 494 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4973 

A BILL 

To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress 

purposes. criminal laws of the United States, and for other to determine the general applicability of the 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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