HRES 917 United States House · 118th Congress

Authorizing the enforcement of subpoenas issued by the Chairs of the Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, or the Judiciary as part of the inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

HRES 917 authorizes the chairs of three House committees (Oversight, Ways and Means, and Judiciary) to seek court enforcement of subpoenas issued during an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. It ratifies prior subpoenas and allows committees to initiate legal action in federal court to compel compliance, including with subpoenas directed at specific Department of Justice officials and materials held by the National Archives. The resolution provides legal mechanisms for committees to pursue judicial relief - such as declaratory judgments or disclosure orders - to advance the inquiry, while requiring notification to the full House and specifying the Office of General Counsel will handle legal representation. This procedural bill focuses on enabling the impeachment investigation's legal enforcement, not on policy outcomes or political advocacy.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2023
Committee Review
Dec 2023
House Passage
Dec 2023
Senate Passage
President
Introduced Dec 7, 2023 Last action Dec 13, 2023
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 4 edits · Dec 13, 2023
MODERATE
No substantive policy changes were made between the introduced and engrossed versions of HRES 917. The differences are limited to procedural status (changed from Introduced to Engrossed), an updated date (December 7 to December 13, 2023), reformatting of line breaks and headers, and the addition of the Clerk's name at the end. The resolution's text authorizing committee chairs to enforce subpoenas related to the impeachment inquiry into President Biden remains identical.
TECHNICAL

Bill status changed from 'Introduced in House' (IH) to 'Engrossed in House' (EH), reflecting a procedural step in the legislative process.

Clerk's name (Cheryl L. Johnson) added at the end of the document, which is standard for engrossed versions.

Header and body text reformatted with additional line breaks for readability; no wording changes to the substantive provisions.

TIMELINE

Date updated from December 7, 2023 to December 13, 2023, reflecting the engrossment date.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
1
Dec 13, 2023
Lower · Passed
Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 918, H. Res. 917 is considered passed House. (consideration: CR H6924; text: CR H6924)
lower
Dec 13, 2023
Lower · Passed
Passed/agreed to in House: Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 918, H. Res. 917 is considered passed House.
lower
Dec 7, 2023
Committee
Referred to the House Committee on Rules.
lower
Dec 7, 2023
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Kelly Armstrong
Kelly Armstrong
RRepublican
ND
At-Large