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Federal Law Enforcement Council Act

Policy Introduction

Published February 2026

Based on Rev 1.0 of the Federal Law Enforcement Council Act

Overview

The Federal Law Enforcement Council Act restructures the governance of federal law enforcement by abolishing the office of the Attorney General and replacing it with a seven-member Federal Law Enforcement Council. The Act addresses a structural vulnerability in the current system: the concentration of all federal prosecution authority in a single officer who serves at the pleasure of the President, creating conditions under which the entire federal law enforcement apparatus can be captured for political purposes.

The Act separates two functions that the current structure conflates in the Attorney General -- the communication of legitimate executive enforcement priorities and the exercise of independent prosecutorial judgment. A new cabinet-level Law Enforcement Secretary serves as the President's policy voice, communicating enforcement priorities to the Council through a formal documentation protocol. The Council exercises all prosecutorial authority independently. Communications between the Executive and the Council must pass through a single Authorized Communication Channel, and only formally documented communications carry legal standing. Informal pressure -- through any channel, from any source -- is defined out of legal existence rather than merely prohibited.

The Act preserves presidential authority within constitutional bounds. The President nominates Council Members with Senate confirmation, appoints and removes the Law Enforcement Secretary at will, and retains the ability to remove Council Members for documented cause. The multi-member governance structure operates within the constitutional framework upheld by the Supreme Court for independent commissions since Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) and reaffirmed in Seila Law LLC v. CFPB (2020) and Collins v. Yellen (2021).

Key Components

  • Federal Law Enforcement Council (Title II) -- Seven members with staggered seven-year terms, partisan balance requirements, for-cause removal protections, and tiered voting thresholds for decisions of varying consequence. Vacancies are filled automatically by the Senior U.S. Attorney to prevent deliberate understaffing.

  • Law Enforcement Secretary (Title III) -- A cabinet-level position limited to communicating executive enforcement priorities. The Secretary has no prosecutorial, investigative, or enforcement authority and no access to case-specific information.

  • Executive-Council Communication Protocol (Title IV) -- Establishes the Authorized Communication Channel and Documentation Registry. All Executive-Council communications must be formally documented to carry legal standing. Undocumented communications must be reported to the Inspector General and create no obligation on the Council or Department personnel.

  • Director of Operations (Title V) -- A career professional appointed by the Council to manage day-to-day Department of Justice operations, bridging the Council's policy authority and the Department's operational needs.

  • Decision Authority and Voting Thresholds (Title VI) -- Three-tiered voting structure requiring simple majority for routine decisions, enhanced majority for senior personnel actions, and supermajority for politically sensitive matters including investigations of senior officials and nationwide prosecution policy.

  • Special Counsel (Title VII) -- Statutory mechanism for appointing Special Counsel with mandatory appointment triggers for matters involving the President, Council Members, or the Director of Operations. Includes a qualified roster maintained by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and judicial backstop if the Council fails to act.

  • Inspector General (Title VIII) -- Independent Inspector General selected through a nominating committee process, serving a single ten-year term, removable only by supermajority Council vote with judicial concurrence.

  • Career Workforce Protections (Title IX) -- Merit-based personnel standards with DOJ-specific prohibited personnel practices, including protections against case-based reassignment, politically motivated performance evaluations, and coerced resignation through undesirable transfers.

  • Whistleblower Protections (Title X) -- Comprehensive protections for reporting undocumented communications, political interference, and prohibited personnel practices, with criminal penalties for retaliation and multiple independent reporting channels.

  • Transparency and Oversight (Title XI) -- Annual prosecution pattern reporting, biennial GAO audits, mandatory congressional testimony, and scheduled public disclosure of Documentation Registry entries.

  • National Security Coordination (Title XII) -- Preserves national security coordination through a designated liaison while maintaining the Council's final prosecutorial authority and the prohibition on case-specific communications.

  • Transition and Implementation (Title XIII) -- Phased implementation with staggered Council start dates, continuity of Department personnel and pending matters, and interim provisions for the transition period.

Documentation

The full legislative text, policy rationale, and additional supporting materials provide complete detail on the Act's provisions, design reasoning, and implementation framework.

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Prepared by Albert Ramos for The American Policy Architecture Institute