2 U.S.C. § 288d — Enforcement of Senate subpena or order

(a) Bringing a lawsuit. When directed under section 288b(b) of this title, the Counsel must bring a civil lawsuit — using any law that gives a federal court jurisdiction, including section 1365 of title 28 — to enforce, to get a court ruling on the validity of, or to stop a threatened failure to obey, any subpoena or order issued by the Senate or by a Senate committee or subcommittee that is authorized to issue one. (b) Authorization for committees. If the Counsel is directed to bring a lawsuit under subsection (a) in the name of a Senate committee or subcommittee, that direction itself counts as that committee's or subcommittee's authorization to sue, for purposes of any law giving a federal court jurisdiction. (c) Requirements before considering such a resolution. The Senate cannot properly take up a resolution directing the Counsel to sue in the name of a committee or subcommittee under subsection (a) unless: (1) a majority of that committee (or of the full committee that the subcommittee belongs to) votes, with a majority present, to report the resolution; and (2) the committee's report includes a statement covering (A) how the subpoena was issued, (B) how much the subpoenaed party has complied with it, (C) any objections or privileges the subpoenaed party raised, and (D) how a lawsuit under this section compares, in effectiveness, to certifying a criminal contempt-of-Congress charge or starting a contempt proceeding before the Senate itself. (d) These are Senate rules. Subsection (c)'s requirements are adopted as an exercise of the Senate's own rulemaking power and count as part of the Senate's rules, overriding any other Senate rule only to the extent they conflict. The Senate keeps its full constitutional right to change these rules at any time, in the same way it changes any other Senate rule. (e) Committee reports not usable in court. A report filed under subsection (c)(2) cannot be used as evidence in any court of law, as long as it follows that subsection's requirements. (f) Omitted. (g) Contempt is unaffected. Nothing in this section limits the President pro tempore of the Senate's power to certify a failure to testify to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia under section 194 of this title, or the Senate's power to hold any person or entity in contempt of the Senate.