I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6403 

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

with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2022 

Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. TRONE, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. ISSA, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. GOODEN of Texas, Mr. BACON, Mr. BOST, Mr. 

OBERNOLTE, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. VAN DREW, 

and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; which was 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: 


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

2 a law enforcement component of the Department of 

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

4 for fiscal year 2018. 

5 (2) With the exception of the Federal Bureau 

6 of Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons had the larg7 est operating budget of any unit within the Depart8 ment of Justice for fiscal year 2018. 

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

10 Prisons oversaw 122 facilities and was responsible 

11 for the welfare of more than 176,000 Federal in12 mates. 

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

14 Prisons supervised more than 36,000 employees, 

15 many of whom operate in hazardous environments 

16 that involve regular interaction with violent offend17 ers. 

18 (5) Within the Department of Justice, in addi19 tion to those officials who oversee litigating compo20 nents, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To21 bacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Director of the 

22 Community Relations Service, the Director of the 

23 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the 

24 Office on Violence Against Women, the Adminis25 trator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the 


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1 Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Ad2 ministration, the Director of the United States Mar3 shals Service, 94 United States Marshals, the In4 spector General of the Department of Justice, and 

5 the Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair 

6 Employment Practices, are all appointed by the 

7 President by and with the advice and consent of the 

8 Senate. 

9 (6) Despite the significant budget of the Bu10 reau of Prisons and the vast number of people under 

11 the responsibility of the Director of the Bureau of 

12 Prisons, the Director is not appointed by and with 

13 the advice and consent of the Senate. 

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

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

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

17 serving directly under the Attorney General.’’ and insert18 ing the following: ‘‘who shall be appointed by the Presi19 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

20 The Director shall serve directly under the Attorney Gen21 eral.’’. 

22 (b) INCUMBENT.—Notwithstanding the amendment 

23 made by subsection (a), the individual serving as the Di24 rector of the Bureau of Prisons on the date of enactment 

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


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

2 enactment of this Act. 

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

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

5 appoint the individual serving as the Director of the Bu6 reau of Prisons on the date of enactment of this Act to 

7 the position of Director of the Bureau of Prisons in ac8 cordance with section 4041 of title 18, United States 

9 Code, as amended by subsection (a). 

10 (d) TERM.— 

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

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

13 is amended by inserting after ‘‘consent of the Sen14 ate.’’ the following: ‘‘The Director shall be appointed 

15 for a term of 10 years, except that an individual ap16 pointed to the position of Director may continue to 

17 serve in that position until another individual is ap18 pointed to that position, by and with the advice and 

19 consent of the Senate. An individual may not serve 

20 more than 1 term as Director.’’. 

21 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

22 paragraph (1) shall apply to appointments made on 

23 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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