Appendix A — Model 120th Congress Financial-Integrity Oversight Resolution

Proposed legislative text; not adopted law. This complete model is drafted against the 119th House rules baseline. The Parliamentarian and House Legislative Counsel should confirm final placement and conforming numbering against the actual 120th organizational package. Adoption of a standing rule does not bind a future House against amendment. No date is a representation that the House will organize, elect committees, or authorize service by that date.

A.1 Proposed resolution text

Resolved, That the following rules and orders shall govern coordinated financial-integrity oversight in the House of Representatives.

Section 1. Purpose and construction

(a) The purpose of this resolution is to improve the House's capacity to obtain reliable information concerning the administration and adequacy of Federal financial-integrity laws, formulate legislation, protect constitutional rights, and preserve lawfully acquired evidence.

(b) Nothing in this resolution authorizes investigation solely for the purpose of criminal prosecution, adjudication of individual guilt, punishment, or exposure for its own sake. Each committee shall identify a legislative or other constitutionally authorized purpose within the authority conferred on that committee.

(c) Nothing in this resolution expands the legislative jurisdiction of a committee under rule X, confers powers on a private person, or authorizes use of a subpoena before the issuing committee and its chair are duly constituted and the applicable authorization requirements have been satisfied.

Section 2. Common deposition authority

At the end of clause 2 of rule XI, add the following new paragraph:

“(r)(1) Each standing committee, including the Committee on Rules, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence may authorize and regulate the taking of depositions, including pursuant to subpoena, by a member or counsel of the committee, for matters within its jurisdiction. Unless the committee otherwise directs by rule or recorded vote, the chair may order such a deposition after consultation with the ranking minority member. The attendance of a member shall not be required. Nothing in this paragraph diminishes additional confidentiality or procedure requirements applicable to the Committee on Ethics or the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“(2) A notice shall identify the date, time, place or approved remote means, general subjects of examination, issuing authority, and method of obtaining the applicable regulations. Except as provided in subparagraph (3), consultation with the ranking minority member and notice to all committee members shall occur at least three days before the deposition, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays unless the House is in session on such a day. Consultation shall include the proposed subpoena and document schedule when compulsory process is contemplated. Consultation does not require concurrence.

“(3) The chair may shorten the periods in subparagraph (2) only upon a written finding, supported by specific facts, that compliance with those periods would create a substantial risk of destruction or material alteration of evidence, loss of the witness's availability, or another comparably serious impairment of the legislative inquiry. A generalized assertion of urgency or the congressional calendar alone is insufficient. The chair shall provide the finding, proposed process and maximum practicable opportunity for consultation to the ranking minority member before issuance, or contemporaneously if advance communication is demonstrably impracticable. All committee members shall receive notice promptly. Shortening committee consultation or notice does not dispense with reasonable notice to the witness, counsel preparation, service requirements, or a valid privilege.

“(4) A witness may be accompanied by two designated personal, nongovernmental attorneys. Attendance shall otherwise be limited to members, designated committee staff, the official reporter, and persons necessary for interpretation, disability accommodation, or approved technical support who are designated in writing and bound by committee confidentiality requirements. Government agency personnel shall not attend as a witness's counsel under this subparagraph. For a joint investigation, the chair and ranking minority member of each participating committee may designate staff entitled to attend.

“(5) Designated committee counsel may conduct the examination. Majority and minority counsel shall receive equal questioning time in alternating rounds not exceeding sixty minutes per side unless the chair and ranking minority member agree otherwise. No more than two counsel designated by the participating chair or chairs and two designated by the participating ranking minority member or members may question in a round. The chair shall provide reasonable breaks and accommodations, and shall prevent repetitive or abusive questioning.

“(6) Testimony shall be under oath administered by a person lawfully authorized to administer it, transcribed verbatim, and certified by the oath administrator and official reporter. A video or audio record may also be made. The witness shall receive a reasonable opportunity to review the transcript and, within five days after notice of that opportunity or a longer period allowed for good cause, submit signed proposed corrections and reasons. Substantive changes shall be appended without deleting the original testimony. The chair and ranking minority member shall receive the same transcript and recordings at the same time.

“(7) A privilege objection shall be stated specifically and preserved on the record. Counsel may direct refusal to answer to preserve a valid privilege. The chair may rule after obtaining appropriate legal advice. A member may appeal a ruling in writing within three days. An appeal shall be preserved for prompt committee consideration, and no sanction shall rest on a ruling reversed by the committee. No pending appeal shall prevent examination on independent, nonprivileged subjects. The committee shall provide the witness its ruling and a reasonable opportunity to comply before seeking sanctions.

“(8) A remote deposition may be ordered upon a written determination that the method serves the inquiry and permits reliable identification, oath administration, confidential consultation with personal counsel, equal participation, and an accurate record. The Chief Administrative Officer shall approve the platform. The witness shall disclose persons present, remain visible while testifying, and refrain from undisclosed assistance. The record shall identify every interruption and any resulting limitation. Remote participation does not authorize remote member voting or establish service, jurisdiction, or oath authority otherwise absent under law.

“(9) The chair and ranking minority member shall consult before release of deposition testimony or recordings. A written objection shall be referred promptly to the committee. No release may contravene a statute, binding court order, applicable classified-information requirement, or other controlling legal restriction. A witness shall receive these rules and the governing regulations before being required to testify.

“(10) The chair of the Committee on Rules shall publish implementing regulations consistent with this paragraph. A committee may adopt additional procedures consistent with House rules and law. A conflict shall be resolved in favor of this paragraph except where a statute or other superior legal requirement controls.”

Section 3. Coordinated investigations and evidence custody

(a) Two or more committees may enter a written joint-investigation agreement identifying each committee's jurisdiction, legislative questions, lead requests, designated staff, custody, applicable restrictions, and release procedures. A joint agreement shall not permit one committee to exercise a statutory access right conferred exclusively on another.

(b) Subject to law and applicable restrictions, a committee may make its records available to another committee for an identified authorized purpose without a separate vote of the House. The receiving committee shall preserve source identifiers, custody history, access controls, and restrictions, and shall not make an onward disclosure beyond the authority of the originating committee and governing law.

(c) A common evidence catalog and shared professional service may be established by written agreement approved under applicable House administrative and funding procedures. The service shall maintain separate access compartments for information subject to tax confidentiality, Bank Secrecy Act restrictions, court orders, grand-jury secrecy, classification, or other special limits. Restricted metadata and derivative analysis shall receive the same protection as their sources. No entitlement arises solely from employment by the service.

(d) In exercising the authority provided by this section, committees intend to preserve applicable legislative, attorney-client, work-product, and other protections to the fullest extent permitted by law. This statement does not bind a court, create an evidentiary privilege, or establish that an external disclosure cannot result in waiver. The House Office of General Counsel shall review proposed disclosures that may affect an institutional privilege.

Section 4. Referrals to governmental authorities

(a) A committee chair, following consultation with the ranking minority member, may transmit records lawfully eligible for disclosure to an appropriate Federal, State, territorial, Tribal, or local governmental authority for its independent consideration, without a separate resolution of the House, unless another House rule requires committee action for the records involved. The committee shall resolve a written release objection under its governing procedures before transmission.

(b) Before transmission, designated committee counsel shall certify the recipient and legal basis, relevant jurisdictional facts, source and custody, restrictions and redactions, privilege and immunity issues, known exculpatory or contradictory information, and the exact items authorized for release. The package shall state that the recipient independently determines its jurisdiction, process and disposition. A referral shall not demand charges, condition unrelated legislative action on cooperation, or promise immunity or leniency.

(c) This section does not authorize disclosure of returns or return information under section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, a suspicious activity report or information revealing its existence, grand-jury matter, classified information, or sealed material except pursuant to independently applicable law and any required authorization or order. Where direct transmission is unavailable, counsel may identify lawful public or independently obtained source records without disclosing the protected material or its existence.

Section 5. Prospective authorization of civil subpoena enforcement

(a) The House authorizes a committee, acting through its chair, and the House Office of General Counsel to seek appropriate civil judicial enforcement of a subpoena issued pursuant to House and committee rules, without a further resolution of the House, after the chair certifies in writing the committee's authorization, jurisdiction, legislative purpose, service, material default, and reasonable accommodation efforts or specific reasons such efforts would be futile.

(b) This authorization is subject to clause 8 of rule II. The Speaker shall direct representation after consultation with the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group. The certification and subpoena shall be supplied to the ranking minority member and the Office of General Counsel. Counsel may seek expedited consideration, preservation relief, production, testimony, or other relief available in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) This section neither supplies a statutory cause of action or subject-matter jurisdiction, determines Article III standing, alters sovereign immunity, binds judicial scheduling, nor adjudicates a privilege. Counsel shall assess each basis before filing. Criminal contempt referrals and applications for statutory witness immunity remain subject to their separate legal requirements.

(d) At the end of a Congress, the committee and Office of General Counsel shall identify pending proceedings and required preservation measures. Continuation shall comply with rule II, clause 8, and applicable law; a new committee shall consider renewed authorization and reissuance where necessary rather than assume that every subpoena survives adjournment.

Section 6. Statutory-request safeguards and separate legislation

(a) No additional requirement that the committee chair sign a request by seven members under 5 U.S.C. § 2954 is established by this resolution. Statutory eligibility, committee jurisdiction, applicable confidentiality requirements, and questions of judicial enforcement remain governed by law.

(b) Nothing in this resolution amends 26 U.S.C. § 6103, 31 U.S.C. §§ 5318 or 5319, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a State's law, or a court order. A committee proposing broader access or redisclosure shall develop separate legislation specifying recipients, purposes, minimization, safeguards, retention, audits, remedies and judicial review.

(c) Within ninety days after adoption, the participating committees shall report on implementation, access-control failures, unresolved legal obstacles, burdens on recipients, minority participation, and recommended legislative changes. Public reporting shall omit information not lawfully eligible for publication.

Section 7. Effective date and severability

This resolution takes effect upon adoption and applies to process issued thereafter. A provision held inapplicable in a particular matter shall not affect lawful operation of the remaining provisions. No subpoena shall be represented as authorized solely because a proposed schedule assigns it a date.

A.2 Amendment effect and implementation record

The main standing-rule amendment codifies deposition authority previously supplied to most committees by separate order. It deliberately extends the common authority to Rules, subject to jurisdiction, and preserves special Ethics and Intelligence restrictions. Its emergency provision expressly reaches both consultation and all-member notice, curing ambiguity in the existing regulation while requiring specific findings and reasonable witness preparation. The joint-investigation mechanism expands operational coordination already contemplated by 119th deposition regulation 4.

Sections 3–4 authorize internal sharing and ordinary referrals only within existing law. They expressly reject automatic pooling of § 6103 material and SARs. Section 5 supplies prospective institutional authorization rather than a guarantee of judicial enforcement. Section 6 does not amend the Seven-Member statute; it simply does not renew the additional House chair-signature restriction found in the 118th and 119th separate orders.

Before implementation, the Clerk, Parliamentarian, House Legislative Counsel, OGC, House Administration and relevant chairs should confirm conforming placement; funding and appointments; valid committee delegations; records custody; minority participation; safe remote procedures; and exact current statutory text. The public project may advocate this resolution and publish research about it. It cannot adopt, issue or serve congressional process.

A.3 Official baseline authorities

H. Res. 5, 118th Congress, §§ 3(i)–(k): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-118hres5eh/html/BILLS-118hres5eh.htm

H. Res. 5, 119th Congress, §§ 3(i), (s)–(u): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hres5eh/html/BILLS-119hres5eh.htm

119th deposition regulations, especially regulations 2, 4–11: https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/documents/119th-staff-deposition-authority-regulations-final.pdf

119th House Rules and Manual, Rule II clause 8, Rule X and Rule XI: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/HMAN-119/pdf/HMAN-119-houserules.pdf

26 U.S.C. § 6103: https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-118/t26/s6103/

31 U.S.C. §§ 5318–5319: https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-120/t31/s5318/ ; https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-120/t31/s5319/

Treasury Order 180-02: https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/orders-and-directives/treasury-order-180-02

5 U.S.C. § 2954: https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-121/t5/s2954/