Reading Room Document

Constitutionality of Proposals Regarding an Independent Attorney General

The document is a memorandum discussing the constitutionality of legislation that would limit the President's power to remove the Attorney General from office. The conclusion reached is that such legislation would likely be unconstitutional, as it would impair the President's ability to execute the laws. The document presents the question of whether the Attorney General could be placed in a separate, non-Cabinet status with a fixed term and subject to removal only with consent of Congress, and concludes that there is no method, short of a constitutional amendment, to separate the Attorney General from Presidential control.

April 11, 1977