IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4917 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide 
testimonial subpoena authority, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IG Subpoena Authority 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC-
TORS GENERAL. 
The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is amended— 
(1) by inserting after section 6 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 6A. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY. 
‘‘(a) TESTIMONIAL SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In ad-
dition to the authority otherwise provided by this Act and 
in accordance with the requirements of this section, each 
Inspector General, in carrying out the provisions of this 
Act (or in the case of an Inspector General or Special In-
spector General not established under this Act, the provi-
sions of the authorizing statute), is authorized to require 
by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses 
as necessary in the performance of the functions assigned 
to the Inspector General by this Act (or in the case of 
an Inspector General or Special Inspector General not es-
tablished under this Act, the functions assigned by the au-
thorizing statute), which in the case of contumacy or re-
fusal to obey, such subpoena shall be enforceable by order 
of any appropriate United States district court. An Inspec-
tor General may not require by subpoena the attendance 
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and testimony of any current Federal employees, but may 
use other authorized procedures. 
‘‘(b) NONDELEGATION.—The authority to issue a 
subpoena under subsection (a) may not be delegated. 
‘‘(c) PANEL REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE.— 
‘‘(1) APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(A) REQUEST
FOR
APPROVAL
BY
SUB-
POENA PANEL.—Before the issuance of a sub-
poena described in subsection (a), an Inspector 
General shall submit a request for approval to 
issue a subpoena to a panel (in this section, re-
ferred to as the ‘Subpoena Panel’), which shall 
be comprised of three Inspectors General of the 
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 
and Efficiency, who shall be designated by the 
Inspector General serving as Chairperson of the 
Council. 
‘‘(B) PROTECTION
FROM
DISCLOSURE.— 
The information contained in the request sub-
mitted by an Inspector General under subpara-
graph (A) and the identification of a witness 
shall be protected from disclosure to the extent 
permitted by law. Any request for disclosure of 
such information shall be submitted to the In-
spector General requesting the subpoena. 
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‘‘(2) TIME TO RESPOND.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the Subpoena Panel shall 
approve or deny a request for approval to issue 
a subpoena not later than 10 days after the 
submission of such request. 
‘‘(B) 
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
FOR 
PANEL.—If the Subpoena Panel determines 
that additional information is necessary to ap-
prove or deny such request, the Subpoena Panel 
shall request such information and shall ap-
prove or deny such request not later than 20 
days after the submission of such request. 
‘‘(3) DENIAL BY PANEL.—If a majority of the 
Subpoena Panel denies the approval of a subpoena, 
that subpoena may not be issued. 
‘‘(d) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Subpoena Panel ap-
proves a subpoena under subsection (c), the Inspec-
tor General shall notify the Attorney General that 
the Inspector General intends to issue the subpoena. 
‘‘(2) DENIAL FOR INTERFERENCE WITH AN ON-
GOING
INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 10 days 
after the date on which the Attorney General is noti-
fied pursuant to paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen-
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eral may object to the issuance of the subpoena be-
cause the subpoena will interfere with an ongoing in-
vestigation and the subpoena may not be issued. 
‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENA APPROVED.—If 
the Attorney General does not object to the issuance 
of the subpoena during the 10-day period described 
in paragraph (2), the Inspector General may issue 
the subpoena. 
‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Chairperson of the Council 
of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in 
consultation with the Attorney General, shall prescribe 
regulations to carry out the purposes of this section. 
‘‘(f) INSPECTOR GENERAL DEFINED.—For purposes 
of this section, the term ‘Inspector General’ includes each 
Inspector General established under this Act and each In-
spector General or Special Inspector General not estab-
lished under this Act. 
‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of this section 
shall not affect the exercise of authority by an Inspector 
General of testimonial subpoena authority established 
under another provision of law.’’; 
(2) in section 5(a)— 
(A) in paragraph (21)(B), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
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(B) in paragraph (22), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by inserting at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(23) a description of the use of subpoenas for 
the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses 
authorized under section 6A.’’; and 
(3) in section 8G(g)(1), by inserting ‘‘6A,’’ be-
fore ‘‘and 7’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 
2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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