Reading Room Document

Legal Effect of Federal Judge's Order as Hearing Officer Under Court's Employment Dispute Resolution Plan

The Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who was acting in an administrative capacity under the Court's employment dispute resolution plan when he issued an order to the Office of Personnel Management, lacked the authority to direct OPM in its administration of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Accordingly, OPM is not legally required to comply with the directives in the order. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2010-01-20-fed-judge-hrg-officer/download.

January 20, 2010