General Discussion

...if their investigation was impeded, but it would be pretty novel and face a huge challenge in court since it would have to be determined to be out of Patel's scope of lawful duties or it violated state law.

It would take a Constitutional amendment to create a fourth branch of government, but how that would work would be complicated--and 20th-century amendments averaged 394 days to ratify. Given the current polarization and disfunction of our politics, it seems almost impossible that an amendment of this sort would ever get passed--much less ratified.

But Congress has the power to make the DOJ far more independent. The DOJ wasn't created until July 1, 1870, following President Ulysses S. Grant’s signing of the Act to Establish the Department of Justice on June 22, 1870. Congress could change the way the DOJ works if it had the vision and willpower--creating all kinds of checks and balances and accountability within the department. This seems like a much more likely path.

Let's hope it happens after the midterms!