I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5505 

To ensure independent investigations and judicial review of the removal of 

a special counsel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2018 

Mr. DENT (for himself and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To ensure independent investigations and judicial review of 

the removal of a special counsel, 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 ‘‘Special Counsel Inde5 pendence and Integrity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON REMOVAL OF SPECIAL COUNSEL. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A special counsel appointed by the 

8 Attorney General, or any other official appointed by the 

9 Attorney General who exercises a similar degree of inde10 pendence from the normal Department of Justice chain 


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1 of command, may be removed from office only by the per2 sonal action of an Attorney General who has been con3 firmed by the Senate, or, if the Attorney General is 

4 recused from the matter, the most senior Department of 

5 Justice official who has been confirmed by the Senate and 

6 is not recused from the matter. 

7 (b) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—A special counsel or 

8 other appointed official described in subsection (a) may 

9 be removed only for misconduct, dereliction of duty, inca10 pacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including 

11 violation of policies of the Department of Justice. 

12 (c) NOTICE OF REMOVAL.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General or 

14 other Department of Justice official described in 

15 subsection (a), as the case may be, shall provide 

16 written notice to the special counsel or other ap17 pointed official described in subsection (a) of the 

18 specific reason or reasons for the removal. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REMOVAL.—Except as 

20 provided in subsection (e), removal under this sec21 tion shall become effective on the date that is 10 

22 days after the date on which the written notice was 

23 provided under paragraph (1). 

24 (d) TIMING.—Not later than 10 days after the date 

25 on which written notice was provided under subsection 


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1 (c)(1), the special counsel or other appointed official de2 scribed in subsection (a), as the case may be, may file 

3 an action challenging the removal in accordance with sub4 section (e). 

5 (e) REVIEW.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual that received 

7 written notice under subsection (c)(1) may file an 

8 action in accordance with paragraph (2) that the re9 moval was in violation of this Act. 

10 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any action filed under 

11 this subsection shall be heard and determined by a 

12 court of 3 judges not later than 14 days after the 

13 date on which the action is filed in accordance with 

14 the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United 

15 States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme 

16 Court. 

17 (3) RELIEF.—If a court determines that the re18 moval of the individual who filed an action under 

19 this subsection violates this Act, the removal shall 

20 not take effect. The court may also provide other ap21 propriate relief. 

22 (4) STATUS DURING PROCEEDINGS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the 

24 individual who filed an action under this sub25 section, the court shall determine whether the 


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1 individual shall remain in office during the 

2 pendency of the action described in paragraph 

3 (2). 

4 (B) PRESERVATION OF MATERIALS.—Dur5 ing the pendency of an action filed under this 

6 subsection, the staff, documents, and materials 

7 of the special counsel or other appointed official 

8 described in subsection (a) shall be preserved. 

9 (C) LIMITATION.—During the pendency of 

10 an action filed under this subsection, a replace11 ment for the special counsel or other appointed 

12 official described in subsection (a) who is chal13 lenging the removal shall not be designated. 

14 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall apply to any 

15 special counsel or other appointed official described in sub16 section (a) appointed on or after January 1, 2017. 

17 (g) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 

18 the application of such provision to any person or cir19 cumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the 

20 remainder of this Act and the application of the provisions 

21 of this Act to any person or circumstance shall remain 

22 and shall not be affected thereby. 

Æ 


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