IV 

House Calendar No. 27 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 430 

[Report No. 116–108] 

Authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or intervene in judicial 

proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 6, 2019 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

NEAL, Mr. SCHIFF, and Ms. WATERS) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Rules 

JUNE 10, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. DESAULNIER, 

Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. MENG, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. 

DEMINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. 

CARBAJAL, Ms. BASS, Ms. DEAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of 

California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, 

Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 

LOFGREN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUJA ́N, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. PANETTA, and Ms. SHALALA


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•HRES 430 RH 

JUNE 10, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, referred to the House Calendar and ordered to 

be printed 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

RESOLUTION 

Authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to initiate or 

intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas and for other purposes. 

1 Resolved, That the chair of the Committee on the Ju2 diciary of the House of Representatives is authorized, on 

3 behalf of such Committee, to initiate or intervene in any 

4 judicial proceeding before a Federal court— 

5 (1) to seek declaratory judgments and any and 

6 all ancillary relief, including injunctive relief, affirm7 ing the duty of— 

8 (A) William P. Barr, Attorney General, 

9 U.S. Department of Justice, to comply with the 

10 subpoena that is the subject of the resolution 

11 accompanying House Report 116–105; and 

12 (B) Donald F. McGahn, II, former White 

13 House Counsel, to comply with the subpoena 

14 issued to him on April 22, 2019; and 

15 (2) to petition for disclosure of information re16 garding any matters identified in or relating to the 

17 subpoenas referred to in paragraph (1) or any acVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:56 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\HR430.RH HR430

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•HRES 430 RH 

1 companying report, pursuant to Federal Rule of 

2 Criminal Procedure 6(e), including Rule 6(e)(3)(E) 

3 (providing that the court may authorize disclosure of 

4 a grand-jury matter ‘‘preliminarily to . . . a judicial 

5 proceeding’’). 

6 Resolved, That the chair of each standing and perma7 nent select committee, when authorized by the Bipartisan 

8 Legal Advisory Group, retains the ability to initiate or in9 tervene in any judicial proceeding before a Federal court 

10 on behalf of such committee, to seek declaratory judg11 ments and any and all ancillary relief, including injunctive 

12 relief, affirming the duty of the recipient of any subpoena 

13 duly issued by that committee to comply with that sub14 poena. Consistent with the Congressional Record state15 ment on January 3, 2019, by the chair of the Committee 

16 on Rules regarding the civil enforcement of subpoenas 

17 pursuant to clause 8(b) of rule II, a vote of the Bipartisan 

18 Legal Advisory Group to authorize litigation and to articu19 late the institutional position of the House in that litiga20 tion is the equivalent of a vote of the full House of Rep21 resentatives. 

22 Resolved, That in connection with any judicial pro23 ceeding brought under the first or second resolving 

24 clauses, the chair of any standing or permanent select 


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•HRES 430 RH 

1 committee exercising authority thereunder has any and all 

2 necessary authority under Article I of the Constitution. 

3 Resolved, That the chair of any standing or perma4 nent select committee exercising authority described in the 

5 first or second resolving clause shall notify the House of 

6 Representatives, with respect to the commencement of any 

7 judicial proceeding thereunder. 

8 Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the 

9 House of Representatives shall, with the authorization of 

10 the Speaker, represent any standing or permanent select 

11 committee in any judicial proceeding initiated or inter12 vened in pursuant to the authority described in the first 

13 or second resolving clause. 

14 Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the 

15 House of Representatives is authorized to retain private 

16 counsel, either for pay or pro bono, to assist in the rep17 resentation of any standing or permanent select committee 

18 in any judicial proceeding initiated or intervened in pursu19 ant to the authority described in the first or second resolv20 ing clause. 

21 That the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

22 the House of Representatives is authorized, on behalf of such 

23 Committee, to initiate or intervene in any judicial pro24 ceeding before a Federal court— 


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•HRES 430 RH 

1 (1) to seek declaratory judgments and any and 

2 all ancillary relief, including injunctive relief, affirm3 ing the duty of— 

4 (A) William P. Barr, Attorney General, to 

5 comply with the subpoena that is the subject of 

6 the resolution accompanying House Report 116- 

7 105; and 

8 (B) Donald F. McGahn, II, former White 

9 House Counsel, to comply with the subpoena 

10 issued to him on April 22, 2019; and 

11 (2) to petition for disclosure of information re12 garding any matters identified in or relating to the 

13 subpoenas referred to in paragraph (1) or any accom14 panying report, pursuant to Federal Rule of Crimi15 nal Procedure 6(e), including Rule 6(e)(3)(E) (pro16 viding that the court may authorize disclosure of a 

17 grand-jury matter ‘‘preliminarily to... a judicial pro18 ceeding’’). 

19 Resolved, That the chair of each standing and perma20 nent select committee, when authorized by the Bipartisan 

21 Legal Advisory Group, retains the ability to initiate or in22 tervene in any judicial proceeding before a Federal court 

23 on behalf of such committee, to seek declaratory judgments 

24 and any and all ancillary relief, including injunctive relief, 

25 affirming the duty of the recipient of any subpoena duly 


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•HRES 430 RH 

1 issued by that committee to comply with that subpoena. 

2 Consistent with the Congressional Record statement on Jan3 uary 3, 2019, by the chair of the Committee on Rules re4 garding the civil enforcement of subpoenas pursuant to 

5 clause 8(b) of rule II, a vote of the Bipartisan Legal Advi6 sory Group to authorize litigation and to articulate the in7 stitutional position of the House in that litigation is the 

8 equivalent of a vote of the full House of Representatives. 

9 Resolved, That in connection with any judicial pro10 ceeding brought under the first or second resolving clauses, 

11 the chair of any standing or permanent select committee 

12 exercising authority thereunder has any and all necessary 

13 authority under Article I of the Constitution. 

14 Resolved, That the chair of any standing or permanent 

15 select committee exercising authority described in the first 

16 or second resolving clause shall notify the House of Rep17 resentatives, with respect to the commencement of any judi18 cial proceeding thereunder. 

19 Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the 

20 House of Representatives shall, with the authorization of 

21 the Speaker, represent any standing or permanent select 

22 committee in any judicial proceeding initiated or inter23 vened in pursuant to the authority described in the first 

24 or second resolving clause. 


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•HRES 430 RH 

1 Resolved, That the Office of General Counsel of the 

2 House of Representatives is authorized to retain private 

3 counsel, either for pay or pro bono, to assist in the represen4 tation of any standing or permanent select committee in 

5 any judicial proceeding initiated or intervened in pursuant 

6 to the authority described in the first or second resolving 

7 clause. 


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House Calendar No. 27 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 430 

[Report No. 116–108] 

RESOLUTION 

Authorizing the Committee on the Judiciary to iniforce certain subpoenas and for other purposes. tiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enJUNE 10, 2019 

Reported with an amendment, referred to the House 

Calendar and ordered to be printed 


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