I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1789
To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify the removability of certain
actions against current and former Presidents and other senior Executive
officials, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH3, 2025
Mr. F
RYintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify the remov-
ability of certain actions against current and former
Presidents and other senior Executive officials, 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 ‘‘Promptly Ending Po-4
litical Prosecutions and Executive Retaliation Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN ACTIONS. 6
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1442 of title 28, United 7
States Code, is amended— 8
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(1) in subsection (a)— 1
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 2
by inserting ‘‘, upon a prima facie showing by 3
the removing party that the standards for re-4
moval are met,’’ after ‘‘removed by them’’; and 5
(B) in paragraph (1)— 6
(i) by striking ‘‘or any officer (or any 7
person acting under that officer) of the 8
United States or of any agency thereof,’’ 9
and inserting ‘‘or any person who, at the 10
time of removal, is an officer of the United 11
States (or any person acting under that of-12
ficer) or of any agency thereof, or was pre-13
viously such an officer,’’; and 14
(ii) by inserting ‘‘(including a discre-15
tionary exercise of any authority of such 16
office)’’ after ‘‘color of such office’’; and 17
(2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the 18
following: 19
‘‘(5) The President or Vice President for or re-20
lating to any act while in office or where the State 21
court’s consideration of the claim or charge may 22
interfere with, hinder, burden, or delay the execution 23
of the duties of the President or the Vice President. 24
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‘‘(6) A former President or Vice President for 1
or relating to any act while in office.’’. 2
(b) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-3
section (a) shall apply to a civil action or criminal prosecu-4
tion pending on the date of enactment of this Act or com-5
menced on or after such date. 6
SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR REMOVAL OF CRIMINAL CASES. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1455(b) of title 28, 8
United States Code, is amended— 9
(1) in paragraph (3)— 10
(A) by striking ‘‘shall not’’ and inserting 11
‘‘shall’’; and 12
(B) by striking ‘‘except that a judgment of 13
conviction shall not be entered unless the pros-14
ecution is first remanded’’ and inserting ‘‘and 15
no judgment of conviction shall be entered un-16
less the prosecution is remanded’’; 17
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘promptly. If’’ 18
and inserting ‘‘promptly and where a prima facie 19
showing demonstrating the basis for removal is 20
made, the matter shall be removed. Only if’’; and 21
(3) in paragraph (5)— 22
(A) by inserting ‘‘summary dismissal or 23
the’’ after ‘‘does not order the’’; 24
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(B) by striking ‘‘an evidentiary hearing’’ 1
and inserting ‘‘a hearing’’; 2
(C) by inserting ‘‘including dismissal under 3
section 1456’’ after ‘‘require’’; and 4
(D) by inserting ‘‘or dismissal ordered’’ 5
after ‘‘permitted’’. 6
(b) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-7
section (a) shall apply to criminal prosecutions pending 8
on the date of enactment of this Act or commenced on 9
or after such date. 10
SEC. 4. OFFICIAL IMMUNITY. 11
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 89 of title 28, United 12
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-13
lowing: 14
‘‘§ 1456. Official Immunity 15
‘‘(a) I
MMUNITY.—In any case that is subject to re-16
moval under section 1442(a), a Federal official shall be 17
presumed to have immunity under article VI, clause 2 of 18
the Constitution of the United States from any charge or 19
claim made by or under authority of State law which may 20
only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the 21
official was not acting under the color of such office or 22
on account of any right, title or authority claimed under 23
any Act of Congress for the apprehension or punishment 24
of criminals or the collection of the revenue. 25
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‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF IMMUNITY.—For purposes 1
of making a determination of immunity under subsection 2
(a), the following may not be admitted into evidence: 3
‘‘(1) The nature, elements or any other aspect 4
of the charge or claim made by or under authority 5
of State law. 6
‘‘(2) An act alleged to be official that is not the 7
subject of the charge or claim made by or under au-8
thority of State law. 9
‘‘(c) R
EPRESENTATION.—In any case that is subject 10
to removal under section 1442(a) that names a Federal 11
official as a party, the Attorney General may— 12
‘‘(1) represent such Federal official for any 13
charge or claim made by or under authority of State 14
law; or 15
‘‘(2) compensate private counsel retained by 16
such official at a reasonable prevailing rate for any 17
such charge or claim. 18
‘‘(d) P
ROHIBITION ONLIMITATION OFSCOPE.—No 19
court may define or limit the scope of the duties of an 20
official of the Executive Office of the President. 21
‘‘(e) D
ISMISSAL.—In any action subject to removal 22
under paragraph (5) or (6) of section 1442(a), such case 23
shall be dismissed unless rebutted by clear and convincing 24
evidence establishing that the continued pendency of the 25
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State claim or charge would not in any way interfere, 1
hinder, burden, or delay the execution of the duties of the 2
President or Vice President.’’. 3
(b) A
PPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 4
section shall apply to civil actions or criminal prosecutions 5
pending on the date of enactment of this Act or com-6
menced on or after such date. 7
Æ
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