I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4917 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide testimonial subpoena 

authority, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2018 

Mr. RUSSELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide 

testimonial subpoena authority, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IG Subpoena Authority 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC7 TORS GENERAL. 

8 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

9 is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after section 6 the following 

2 new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 6A. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY. 

4 ‘‘(a) TESTIMONIAL SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In ad5 dition to the authority otherwise provided by this Act and 

6 in accordance with the requirements of this section, each 

7 Inspector General, in carrying out the provisions of this 

8 Act (or in the case of an Inspector General or Special In9 spector General not established under this Act, the provi10 sions of the authorizing statute), is authorized to require 

11 by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses 

12 as necessary in the performance of the functions assigned 

13 to the Inspector General by this Act (or in the case of 

14 an Inspector General or Special Inspector General not es15 tablished under this Act, the functions assigned by the au16 thorizing statute), which in the case of contumacy or re17 fusal to obey, such subpoena shall be enforceable by order 

18 of any appropriate United States district court. An Inspec19 tor General may not require by subpoena the attendance 

20 and testimony of any current Federal employees, but may 

21 use other authorized procedures. 

22 ‘‘(b) NONDELEGATION.—The authority to issue a 

23 subpoena under subsection (a) may not be delegated. 

24 ‘‘(c) PANEL REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE.— 

25 ‘‘(1) APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY SUB2 POENA PANEL.—Before the issuance of a sub3 poena described in subsection (a), an Inspector 

4 General shall submit a request for approval to 

5 issue a subpoena to a panel (in this section, re6 ferred to as the ‘Subpoena Panel’), which shall 

7 be comprised of three Inspectors General of the 

8 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 

9 and Efficiency, who shall be designated by the 

10 Inspector General serving as Chairperson of the 

11 Council. 

12 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION FROM DISCLOSURE.— 

13 The information contained in the request sub14 mitted by an Inspector General under subpara15 graph (A) and the identification of a witness 

16 shall be protected from disclosure to the extent 

17 permitted by law. Any request for disclosure of 

18 such information shall be submitted to the In19 spector General requesting the subpoena. 

20 ‘‘(2) TIME TO RESPOND.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), the Subpoena Panel shall 

23 approve or deny a request for approval to issue 

24 a subpoena not later than 10 days after the 

25 submission of such request. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR

2 PANEL.—If the Subpoena Panel determines 

3 that additional information is necessary to ap4 prove or deny such request, the Subpoena Panel 

5 shall request such information and shall ap6 prove or deny such request not later than 20 

7 days after the submission of such request. 

8 ‘‘(3) DENIAL BY PANEL.—If a majority of the 

9 Subpoena Panel denies the approval of a subpoena, 

10 that subpoena may not be issued. 

11 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Subpoena Panel ap13 proves a subpoena under subsection (c), the Inspec14 tor General shall notify the Attorney General that 

15 the Inspector General intends to issue the subpoena. 

16 ‘‘(2) DENIAL FOR INTERFERENCE WITH AN ON17 GOING INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 10 days 

18 after the date on which the Attorney General is noti19 fied pursuant to paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen20 eral may object to the issuance of the subpoena be21 cause the subpoena will interfere with an ongoing in22 vestigation and the subpoena may not be issued. 

23 ‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENA APPROVED.—If 

24 the Attorney General does not object to the issuance 

25 of the subpoena during the 10-day period described 


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1 in paragraph (2), the Inspector General may issue 

2 the subpoena. 

3 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Chairperson of the Council 

4 of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in 

5 consultation with the Attorney General, shall prescribe 

6 regulations to carry out the purposes of this section. 

7 ‘‘(f) INSPECTOR GENERAL DEFINED.—For purposes 

8 of this section, the term ‘Inspector General’ includes each 

9 Inspector General established under this Act and each In10 spector General or Special Inspector General not estab11 lished under this Act. 

12 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of this section 

13 shall not affect the exercise of authority by an Inspector 

14 General of testimonial subpoena authority established 

15 under another provision of law.’’; 

16 (2) in section 5(a)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (21)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

18 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

19 (B) in paragraph (22), by striking the pe20 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (C) by inserting at the end the following 

22 new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(23) a description of the use of subpoenas for 

24 the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses 

25 authorized under section 6A.’’; and 


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1 (3) in section 8G(g)(1), by inserting ‘‘6A,’’ be2 fore ‘‘and 7’’. 

Æ 


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