II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3545 

To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to be appointed by and 

with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mr. LEE, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BRAUN, 

and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to be 

appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

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 ‘‘Federal Prisons Ac5 countability Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Director of the Bureau of Prisons leads 

9 a law enforcement component of the Department of 


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1 Justice with a budget that exceeded $7,000,000,000 

2 for fiscal year 2018. 

3 (2) With the exception of the Federal Bureau 

4 of Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons had the larg5 est operating budget of any unit within the Depart6 ment of Justice for fiscal year 2018. 

7 (3) As of 2019, the Director of the Bureau of 

8 Prisons oversaw 122 facilities and was responsible 

9 for the welfare of more than 176,000 Federal in10 mates. 

11 (4) As of 2019, the Director of the Bureau of 

12 Prisons supervised more than 36,000 employees, 

13 many of whom operate in hazardous environments 

14 that involve regular interaction with violent offend15 ers. 

16 (5) Within the Department of Justice, in addi17 tion to those officials who oversee litigating compo18 nents, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To19 bacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Director of the 

20 Community Relations Service, the Director of the 

21 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the 

22 Office on Violence Against Women, the Adminis23 trator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the 

24 Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Ad25 ministration, the Director of the United States MarVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:10 Feb 02, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3545.IS S3545

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1 shals Service, 94 United States Marshals, the In2 spector General of the Department of Justice, and 

3 the Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair 

4 Employment Practices, are all appointed by the 

5 President by and with the advice and consent of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (6) Despite the significant budget of the Bu8 reau of Prisons and the vast number of people under 

9 the responsibility of the Director of the Bureau of 

10 Prisons, the Director is not appointed by and with 

11 the advice and consent of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF PRISONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, United 

14 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘appointed by and 

15 serving directly under the Attorney General.’’ and insert16 ing the following: ‘‘who shall be appointed by the Presi17 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

18 The Director shall serve directly under the Attorney Gen19 eral.’’. 

20 (b) INCUMBENT.—Notwithstanding the amendment 

21 made by subsection (a), the individual serving as the Di22 rector of the Bureau of Prisons on the date of enactment 

23 of this Act may serve as the Director of the Bureau of 

24 Prisons until the date that is 3 months after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

2 shall be construed to limit the ability of the President to 

3 appoint the individual serving as the Director of the Bu4 reau of Prisons on the date of enactment of this Act to 

5 the position of Director of the Bureau of Prisons in ac6 cordance with section 4041 of title 18, United States 

7 Code, as amended by subsection (a). 

8 (d) TERM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4041 of title 18, 

10 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 

11 is amended by inserting after ‘‘consent of the Sen12 ate.’’ the following: ‘‘The Director shall be appointed 

13 for a term of 10 years, except that an individual ap14 pointed to the position of Director may continue to 

15 serve in that position until another individual is ap16 pointed to that position, by and with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate. An individual may not serve 

18 more than 1 term as Director.’’. 

19 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

20 paragraph (1) shall apply to appointments made on 

21 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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