S. 1735 – Special Counsel Independence Protection Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 5:52 PM UTC

The Special Counsel Independence Protection Act would make it harder to fire a special counsel or similar independent DOJ official. It requires the Attorney General to seek a court order before removal and to notify the Senate and House Judiciary committees. The bill applies to any special counsel appointed by the Attorney General and aims to protect their independence by limiting removals to cases of serious misconduct or other good cause.

Key Provisions

A special counsel can be removed only if the Attorney General files a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and notifies the Senate and House Judiciary committees.
The removal case must be heard by a three‑judge panel, with any appeal going directly to the Supreme Court.
Removal is allowed only if the court finds misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, violation of DOJ policies, or other good cause.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

SenateCommittee Latest Action

Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.

Judiciary Committee

September 26, 2017

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

August 3, 2017

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

August 3, 2017

SenateCommittee

Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.

Judiciary Committee

September 26, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued August 3, 2017

II

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1735

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 3, 2017

Mr. Graham (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To limit the removal of a special counsel, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act.

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 independence from the normal Department of Justice chain of command, may only be removed if the Attorney General files an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and files a contemporaneous notice of the action with the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

(b)

Requirement

Any action filed under subsection (a) shall be heard and determined by a court of 3 judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28, United States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court.

(c)

Removal for cause

A special counsel or other appointed official described in subsection (a) may be removed only after the court has issued an order finding misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including violation of policies of the Department of Justice.