Sec. 2. Enforcement of congressional subpoenas

451 words·~2 min read·/bill/115/hr/4010/eh/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1365 the following: In any civil action brought by the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, or a committee or subcommittee thereof, against the recipient of a subpoena to secure declaratory, injunctive, or other relief as may be appropriate concerning the failure to comply with a subpoena issued by a congressional committee or subcommittee, the following rules shall apply:

The action shall be filed in a United States district court of competent jurisdiction. It shall be the duty of the United States district courts, the United States courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of any such action and appeal. If a three-judge court is expressly requested by the plaintiff in the initial pleading, the action shall be heard by a three-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, United States Code, and shall be reviewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Such appeal shall be taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. The court may impose monetary penalties directly against the head of a Government agency or a component thereof held to have willfully failed to comply with any part of a congressional subpoena. No appropriated funds, funds provided from any accounts in the Treasury, funds derived from the collection of fees, or other Government funds shall be used to pay any monetary penalty imposed by the court pursuant to this section.

Any assertion of a privilege or other ground for noncompliance (whether statutory, common law, or otherwise) asserted by the recipient of a congressional subpoena may be determined to have been waived as to any particular record withheld from production if the court finds that the recipient failed in a timely manner to comply with the requirement of section 105 of the Revised Statutes of the United States that it produce a privilege log with respect to such record. For purposes of this section, the term Government agency means an executive department listed in section 101 of title 5, United States Code, an independent establishment, commission, board, bureau, division, or office in the executive branch, or other agency of the Federal Government, including wholly or partly owned Government corporations. .

The table of sections for chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1365 the following: 1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients. .