IG Subpoena Authority Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2089 To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide testimonial subpoena authority, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 19, 2021 Mr. GOMEZ (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Reform A BILL 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IG Subpoena Authority 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY PROVISIONS FOR INSPEC- 6 TORS GENERAL. 7 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 8 is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2089 IH (1) by inserting after section 6 the following 1 new section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 6A. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY. 3 ‘‘(a) TESTIMONIAL SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—In ad- 4 dition to the authority otherwise provided by this Act and 5 in accordance with the requirements of this section, each 6 Inspector General, in carrying out the provisions of this 7 Act (or in the case of an Inspector General or Special In- 8 spector General not established under this Act, the provi- 9 sions of the authorizing statute), is authorized to require 10 by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses 11 as necessary in the performance of the functions assigned 12 to the Inspector General by this Act (or in the case of 13 an Inspector General or Special Inspector General not es- 14 tablished under this Act, the functions assigned by the au- 15 thorizing statute), which in the case of contumacy or re- 16 fusal to obey, such subpoena shall be enforceable by order 17 of any appropriate United States district court. An Inspec- 18 tor General may not require by subpoena the attendance 19 and testimony of any current Federal employees, but may 20 use other authorized procedures. 21 ‘‘(b) NONDELEGATION.—The authority to issue a 22 subpoena under subsection (a) may not be delegated. 23 ‘‘(c) PANEL REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE.— 24 ‘‘(1) APPROVAL REQUIRED.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2089 IH ‘‘(A) REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY SUB- 1 POENA PANEL.—Before the issuance of a sub- 2 poena described in subsection (a), an Inspector 3 General shall submit a request for approval to 4 issue a subpoena to a panel (in this section, re- 5 ferred to as the ‘Subpoena Panel’), which shall 6 be comprised of three Inspectors General of the 7 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 8 and Efficiency, who shall be designated by the 9 Inspector General serving as Chairperson of the 10 Council. 11 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION FROM DISCLOSURE.— 12 The information contained in the request sub- 13 mitted by an Inspector General under subpara- 14 graph (A) and the identification of a witness 15 shall be protected from disclosure to the extent 16 permitted by law. Any request for disclosure of 17 such information shall be submitted to the In- 18 spector General requesting the subpoena. 19 ‘‘(2) TIME TO RESPOND.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 21 subparagraph (B), the Subpoena Panel shall 22 approve or deny a request for approval to issue 23 a subpoena not later than 10 days after the 24 submission of such request. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2089 IH ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR 1 PANEL.—If the Subpoena Panel determines 2 that additional information is necessary to ap- 3 prove or deny such request, the Subpoena Panel 4 shall request such information and shall ap- 5 prove or deny such request not later than 20 6 days after the submission of such request. 7 ‘‘(3) DENIAL BY PANEL.—If a majority of the 8 Subpoena Panel denies the approval of a subpoena, 9 that subpoena may not be issued. 10 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Subpoena Panel ap- 12 proves a subpoena under subsection (c), the Inspec- 13 tor General shall notify the Attorney General that 14 the Inspector General intends to issue the subpoena. 15 ‘‘(2) DENIAL FOR INTERFERENCE WITH AN ON- 16 GOING INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 10 days 17 after the date on which the Attorney General is noti- 18 fied pursuant to paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen- 19 eral may object to the issuance of the subpoena be- 20 cause the subpoena will interfere with an ongoing in- 21 vestigation and the subpoena may not be issued. 22 ‘‘(3) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENA APPROVED.—If 23 the Attorney General does not object to the issuance 24 of the subpoena during the 10-day period described 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2089 IH in paragraph (2), the Inspector General may issue 1 the subpoena. 2 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Chairperson of the Council 3 of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in 4 consultation with the Attorney General, shall prescribe 5 regulations to carry out the purposes of this section. 6 ‘‘(f) INSPECTOR GENERAL DEFINED.—For purposes 7 of this section, the term ‘Inspector General’ includes each 8 Inspector General established under this Act and each In- 9 spector General or Special Inspector General not estab- 10 lished under this Act. 11 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of this section 12 shall not affect the exercise of authority by an Inspector 13 General of testimonial subpoena authority established 14 under another provision of law.’’; 15 (2) in section 5(a)— 16 (A) in paragraph (21)(B), by striking ‘‘; 17 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 18 (B) in paragraph (22), by striking the pe- 19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (C) by inserting at the end the following 21 new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(23) a description of the use of subpoenas for 23 the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses 24 authorized under section 6A.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2089 IH (3) in section 8G(g)(1), by inserting ‘‘6A,’’ be- 1 fore ‘‘and 7’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2089.IH H2089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS