The second proposal stated that the decision as to whether or when an independent counsel needed to be appointed would be at the absolute discretion of the President (Kavanaugh, 1998). The third proposal suggested that Congress should ensure that the President and the Attorney General solely define and monitor the jurisdiction of the independent counsel, emphasizing the importance of how the responsibility for these jurisdictions should be on these officials that are publicly accountable, rather than on any court (Kavanaugh, 1998). The implementation of this proposal would greatly expedite investigations by special counsel (Kavanaugh, 1998). Fourth, the statutory reporting requirement should be eliminated by congress so that financial and time resources could be saved (Kavanaugh, 1998).

Kavanaugh's (1998) fifth proposal maintained that it should be established by Congress that the President can only be indicted after a voluntary leave of office or impeachment. Some may argue in favor of the "practical displacement theory" which is based in the thought that the independent counsel is essentially a substitute for impeachment, because it allows Congress to achieve certain political ends that are usually pursued through impeachment without having to actually impeach the President (O'sullivan, 1998).

The sixth and final...

This proposal would effectively balance the investigative needs of federal law enforcement with the Presidential needs for confidentiality in regards to advice and discussions (Kavanaugh, 1998).
Moreover, the federal government does require an independent counsel to ensure that executive branch officials, including the President, do not act like they are above the law (O'Sullivan, 1998). The implementation of the proposals to the existing independent counsel system presented by Kavanaugh (1998) would improve the credibility of investigations, improve the effectiveness of law enforcement at this level, and would reduce tensions between the independent counsel and the President (Kavanaugh, 1998).

References

Kavanaugh, B.M. (1998). The President and the independent counsel. Georgetown Law Journal. Retrieved 2/08/2007 from FindArticles.com http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3805/is_199807/ai_n8807527.

O'Sullivan, J.R. (1998). Interaction between impeachment and the Independent Counsel Statute. Georgetown Law Journal. Retrieved 2/08/2007 from FindArticles.com http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3805/is_199807/ai_n8801616.