Take Care Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1753 To promote accountability and effective administration in the execution of laws by restoring the original understanding of the President’s constitu- tional power to remove subordinates from office. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 5, 2019 Mr. LEE (for himself and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To promote accountability and effective administration in the execution of laws by restoring the original under- standing of the President’s constitutional power to re- move subordinates from office. 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 ‘‘Take Care Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 As used in this Act: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1753 IS (1) AT-WILL REMOVAL.—The term ‘‘at-will re- 1 moval’’ means the power to remove a Principal offi- 2 cer with or without cause. 3 (2) FOR-CAUSE REMOVAL PROTECTION.—The 4 term ‘‘for-cause removal protection’’ means any limi- 5 tation on the President’s power to remove a Prin- 6 cipal officer, without regard to whether the limita- 7 tion is derived or inferred from express statutory 8 text, the structure of an agency, the functions and 9 responsibilities assigned to an agency, historical 10 practice, judicial precedent, or regulation. 11 (3) PRINCIPAL OFFICER.—The term ‘‘Principal 12 officer’’ means an officer who is required by article 13 II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution of the 14 United States to be appointed by the President by 15 and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 16 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING EXISTING FOR-CAUSE REMOVAL PRO- 17 TECTIONS. 18 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with re- 19 spect to any Principal officer for whom for-cause removal 20 protection is in effect immediately before this Act takes 21 effect— 22 (1) such for-cause removal protection shall 23 cease to have force or effect; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1753 IS (2) such officer shall be subject to at-will re- 1 moval by the President, 2 effective in accordance with section 7. 3 SEC. 4. PROSPECTIVELY LIMITING FOR-CAUSE REMOVAL 4 PROTECTIONS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 6 sion of law, all Principal officers, whether the office was 7 established before this Act takes effect or is created or 8 otherwise authorized on or after this Act takes effect, shall 9 be subject to at-will removal by the President, unless an 10 Act of Congress enacted after this Act takes effect estab- 11 lishes for-cause removal protection in accordance with sub- 12 section (b). 13 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No Principal officer 14 shall have for-cause removal protection unless an Act of 15 Congress enacted after this Act takes effect— 16 (1) expressly establishes for-cause removal pro- 17 tection for such officer; and 18 (2) declares explicitly and with specificity that 19 its provisions supersede this Act. 20 SEC. 5. DIRECTIVE AUTHORITY. 21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an Act 22 of Congress that vests discretionary decision-making au- 23 thority in an executive branch officer other than the Presi- 24 dent, or that designates an agency to be an independent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1753 IS agency or an independent establishment, shall not be con- 1 strued as a limitation on the President’s power to super- 2 vise and direct the exercise of such discretionary decision- 3 making authority. 4 SEC. 6. REPEAL AND AMENDMENT OF CERTAIN OTHER 5 PROVISIONS OF LAW. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 7 (1) Chapter 12 of title 5, United States Code, 8 is amended— 9 (A) in the table of sections, by striking the 10 item relating to section 1205; 11 (B) in section 1202, by striking subsection 12 (d); 13 (C) by striking section 1205; and 14 (D) in section 1211(b), by striking the 15 fifth sentence. 16 (2) Section 7104(b) of title 5, United States 17 Code, is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘, 18 and may be’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in of- 19 fice’’. 20 (3) Section 2(a)(10)(B) of the Commodity Ex- 21 change Act (7 U.S.C. 2(a)(10)(B)) is amended by 22 striking the second and third sentences. 23 (4) The second undesignated paragraph of sec- 24 tion 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 242) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1753 IS is amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘, un- 1 less sooner removed for cause by the President’’. 2 (5) Section 111 of Public Law 93–495 (12 3 U.S.C. 250) is repealed. 4 (6) Section 1312(b)(2) of the Federal Housing 5 Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 6 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4512(b)(2)) is amended by striking 7 ‘‘for cause’’. 8 (7) The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 9 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended— 10 (A) in section 1011(c) (12 U.S.C. 11 5491(c)), by striking paragraph (3); 12 (B) in section 1012(c) (12 U.S.C. 13 5492(c))— 14 (i) by striking paragraph (4); and 15 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 16 paragraph (4); and 17 (C) in section 1017(a)(4) (12 U.S.C. 18 5497(a)(4))— 19 (i) by striking subparagraph (E); and 20 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 21 (F) as subparagraph (E). 22 (8) The first section of the Federal Trade Com- 23 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41) is amended by striking 24 the sixth sentence. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1753 IS (9) The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 1 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.) is amended— 2 (A) in section 4(a) (15 U.S.C. 2053(a)), by 3 striking the last sentence; and 4 (B) in section 27(k)(2) (15 U.S.C. 5 2076(k)(2)), by striking the second sentence. 6 (10) The Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 7 1933 (16 U.S.C. 831 et seq.) is amended— 8 (A) in section 4 (16 U.S.C. 831c) in the 9 undesignated matter following subsection (f), by 10 striking ‘‘: Provided,’’ and all that follows 11 through ‘‘Representatives’’; and 12 (B) in section 6 (16 U.S.C. 831e), by 13 striking the second sentence. 14 (11) Section 1706 of the United States Insti- 15 tute of Peace Act (22 U.S.C. 4605) is amended— 16 (A) by striking subsection (f); and 17 (B) by redesignating subsections (g) 18 through (j) as subsections (f) through (i), re- 19 spectively. 20 (12) Section 3(a) of the National Labor Rela- 21 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 153(a)) is amended by striking 22 the last sentence. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1753 IS (13) Section 12(b) of the Occupational Safety 1 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 661(b)) is 2 amended by striking the second sentence. 3 (14) Section 113(b)(1) of the Federal Mine 4 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 5 823(b)(1)) is amended by striking the matter fol- 6 lowing subparagraph (B). 7 (15) Section 202(a)(1) of title 39, United 8 States Code, is amended in the fifth sentence by 9 striking ‘‘, and may be removed only for cause’’. 10 (16) Section 502(a) of title 39, United States 11 Code, is amended in the second sentence by striking 12 ‘‘, and may be removed by the President only for 13 cause’’. 14 (17) Section 702(a)(3) of the Social Security 15 Act (42 U.S.C. 902(a)(3)) is amended by striking 16 the fourth sentence. 17 (18) Section 1004 of the Legal Services Cor- 18 poration Act (42 U.S.C. 2996c) is amended— 19 (A) by striking subsection (e); and 20 (B) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), 21 and (h) as subsections (e), (f), and (g), respec- 22 tively. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1753 IS (19) Section 201(e) of the Energy Reorganiza- 1 tion Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5841(e)) is amended by 2 striking the first sentence. 3 (20) Section 112(r)(6) of the Clean Air Act (42 4 U.S.C. 7412(r)(6)) is amended— 5 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 6 fourth sentence; and 7 (B) in subparagraph (R), by striking ‘‘No 8 report’’ and all that follows through ‘‘malfea- 9 sance in office.’’. 10 (21) Section 204 of the State Justice Institute 11 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10703) is amended— 12 (A) by striking subsection (h); and 13 (B) by redesignating subsections (i), (j), 14 and (k) as subsections (h), (i), and (j), respec- 15 tively. 16 (22) The first paragraph of section 4 of the 17 Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 154) is amended by 18 striking the third undesignated subparagraph. 19 (23) Section 301(b) of title 46, United States 20 Code, is amended by striking paragraph (5). 21 (24) Section 1111(c) of title 49, United States 22 Code, is amended— 23 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 24 ‘‘AND REMOVAL’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1753 IS (B) by striking the fourth sentence. 1 (25) Section 1113(c) of title 49, United States 2 Code, is amended by striking the second sentence. 3 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The fact that a provi- 4 sion of law in effect immediately before this Act takes ef- 5 fect that provides for-cause removal protection for a Prin- 6 cipal officer is not repealed under the amendments made 7 by subsection (a) shall not be construed to— 8 (1) supersede section 3 of this Act; or 9 (2) continue the force or effect of such provi- 10 sion of law. 11 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 13 take effect at noon on January 20, 2021. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1753.IS S1753 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS