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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Special Counsel Inde-
pendence and Integrity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON REMOVAL OF SPECIAL COUNSEL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A special counsel appointed by the 
Attorney General, or any other official appointed by the 
Attorney General who exercises a similar degree of inde-
pendence from the normal Department of Justice chain 
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of command, may be removed from office only by the per-
sonal action of an Attorney General who has been con-
firmed by the Senate, or, if the Attorney General is 
recused from the matter, the most senior Department of 
Justice official who has been confirmed by the Senate and 
is not recused from the matter. 
(b) REMOVAL
FOR CAUSE.—A special counsel or 
other appointed official described in subsection (a) may 
be removed only for misconduct, dereliction of duty, inca-
pacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including 
violation of policies of the Department of Justice. 
(c) NOTICE OF REMOVAL.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Attorney General or 
other Department of Justice official described in 
subsection (a), as the case may be, shall provide 
written notice to the special counsel or other ap-
pointed official described in subsection (a) of the 
specific reason or reasons for the removal. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REMOVAL.—Except as 
provided in subsection (e), removal under this sec-
tion shall become effective on the date that is 10 
days after the date on which the written notice was 
provided under paragraph (1). 
(d) TIMING.—Not later than 10 days after the date 
on which written notice was provided under subsection 
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(c)(1), the special counsel or other appointed official de-
scribed in subsection (a), as the case may be, may file 
an action challenging the removal in accordance with sub-
section (e). 
(e) REVIEW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual that received 
written notice under subsection (c)(1) may file an 
action in accordance with paragraph (2) that the re-
moval was in violation of this Act. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any action filed under 
this subsection shall be heard and determined by a 
court of 3 judges not later than 14 days after the 
date on which the action is filed in accordance with 
the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United 
States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme 
Court. 
(3) RELIEF.—If a court determines that the re-
moval of the individual who filed an action under 
this subsection violates this Act, the removal shall 
not take effect. The court may also provide other ap-
propriate relief. 
(4) STATUS DURING PROCEEDINGS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the 
individual who filed an action under this sub-
section, the court shall determine whether the 
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individual shall remain in office during the 
pendency of the action described in paragraph 
(2). 
(B) PRESERVATION OF MATERIALS.—Dur-
ing the pendency of an action filed under this 
subsection, the staff, documents, and materials 
of the special counsel or other appointed official 
described in subsection (a) shall be preserved. 
(C) LIMITATION.—During the pendency of 
an action filed under this subsection, a replace-
ment for the special counsel or other appointed 
official described in subsection (a) who is chal-
lenging the removal shall not be designated. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall apply to any 
special counsel or other appointed official described in sub-
section (a) appointed on or after January 1, 2017. 
(g) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 
the application of such provision to any person or cir-
cumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this Act and the application of the provisions 
of this Act to any person or circumstance shall remain 
and shall not be affected thereby. 
Æ 
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