The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit
This Reading Room is a comprehensive database of published opinions written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). It contains the approximately 1,400 opinions published by the OLC in its online database and the opinions produced in Freedom of Information Act litigation brought by the Knight Institute, including opinions about the Pentagon Papers, the Civil Rights Era, and the War Powers Act. It also contains indexes of unclassified OLC opinions written between 1945 and February 15, 1994 (these indexes were created by the OLC and intended to be comprehensive). We have compiled those indexes into a single list here and in .csv format here. This Reading Room also contains an index of all classified OLC opinions issued between 1974 and 2021, except those classified or codeword-classified at a level higher than Top Secret (the OLC created this index, too, and intended it to be comprehensive).
The Knight Institute will continue updating the reading room with new records. To get alerts when the OLC publishes a new opinion in its database, follow @OLCforthepeople on Twitter.
Showing 1–10 of 2202
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Index of OLC opinions from February 14, 1974 to January 14, 2021
This is an index of classified opinion titles written by the Office of Legal Counsel between February 14, 1974 to January 14, 2021. The largely-unredacted document offers a look into the topics on which the OLC was advising the executive branch during these decades.
11/17/2023
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Retaining Private Counsel to Represent the DHS Secretary in Impeachment Processes
This opinion considered whether the Department of Homeland Security may contract with and pay for private counsel to represent itself and the DHS secretary in impeachment proceedings. Although no impeachment inquiry was pending, in an earlier session of Congress, there had been a resolution to impeach the secretary by people critical of his immigration policy. The OLC concluded that the Department of Homeland Security may retain private counsel to assist the department in representing itself and the secretary in impeachment proceedings aimed at decisions or actions within the scope of the secretary’s official duties and unaccompanied by any allegations of personal misconduct. 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 https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-02/2023-01-04-dhs-impeachment-representation.pdf
1/4/2023
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Retaining Private Counsel to Represent the DHS Secretary in Impeachment Processes
This opinion considered whether the Department of Homeland Security may contract with and pay for private counsel to represent itself and the DHS secretary in impeachment proceedings. Although no impeachment inquiry was pending, in an earlier session of Congress, there had been a resolution to impeach the secretary by people critical of his immigration policy. The OLC concluded that the Department of Homeland Security may retain private counsel to assist the department in representing itself and the secretary in impeachment proceedings aimed at decisions or actions within the scope of the secretary’s official duties and unaccompanied by any allegations of personal misconduct. 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 https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-02/2023-01-04-dhs-impeachment-representation.pdf
1/4/2023
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Application of the Comstock Act to the Mailing of Prescription Drugs That Can Be Used for Abortions
This opinion examined the application of the Comstock Act to the mailing of mifepristone and misoprostol. The OLC concluded that the Comstock Act does not prohibit the mailing of those drugs where the sender lacks the intent that the recipient will use the drugs unlawfully. Because of the many ways in which those drugs can be used lawfully, even in states that restrict access to lawful abortions, the OLC explained that "the mere mailing of such drugs to a particular jurisdiction is an insufficient basis for concluding that the sender intends them to be used unlawfully." The original opinion is available at https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1560596/download.
12/23/2022
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Application of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 to Diplomatic Visit of Palestinian Delegation
Section 1002(2) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, which prohibits the expenditure of funds from the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United States to further the PLO's interests, is unconstitutional to the extent it prevents the exercise of the President's Article II authorities to receive public ministers and to determine the manner in which the Executive engages in diplomacy with foreign representatives. The ATA therefore does not prevent PLO representatives invited by the State Department to Washington, D.C., from spending PLO funds to attend diplomatic meetings with Executive Branch officials, including for expenses that are necessary incidents to those meetings. The original opinion is available at https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1548981/download.
11/2/2022
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Federal Vacancies Reform Act's Application to a Vacancy for Which Prior Presidents Submitted Multiple Nominations
Upon the inauguration of a new President, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act restarts the entire timing sequence for acting service in a position that was vacant on inauguration day, authorizing an acting official to serve for up to 300 days after inauguration day, during the pendency of the new President's first and second nominations for the vacant position, and for 210 days following the rejection, withdrawal, or return of a first or second nomination submitted by the new President. The original opinion is available at https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1547721/download.
10/28/2022
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Authority of the Department of Defense to Use Appropriations for Travel by Service Members and Dependents to Obtain Abortions
The Department of Defense may lawfully expend funds to pay for service members and their dependents to travel to obtain abortions that DoD cannot itself perform due to statutory restrictions. DoD may lawfully expend funds to pay for such travel pursuant to both its express statutory authorities and, independently, the necessary expense doctrine. 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 https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1545696/download.
10/20/2022
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Application of the Hyde Amendment to the Provision of Transportation for Women Seeking Abortions
The Hyde Amendment's prohibition barring the Department of Health and Human Services from expending covered funds for any abortion does not bar HHS from expending covered funds to provide transportation for women seeking abortions in circumstnaces in which HHS has the requisite statutory authority and appropriations to provide such transportation. The original opinion is available at https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1545816/download.
10/20/2022
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Intergovernmental Immunity for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Its Employees When Providing Certain Abortion Services
The rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Reproductive Health Services is a lawful exercise of the VA's authority. States may not impose criminal or civil liability on VA employees--including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff--who provide or facilitate abortions or related services in a manner authorized by federal law, including VA's rule. The Supremacy Clause bars state officials from penalizing VA employees for performing their federal functions, whether through criminal prosecution, license revocation proceedings, or civil litigation. The original opinion is available at https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1537431/download.
9/21/2022
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Use of the HEROES Act of 2003 to Cancel the Principal Amounts of Student Loans
The Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-76, 117 Stat. 904, grants the Secretary of Education authority to reduce or eliminate the obligation to repay the principal balance of federal student loan debt, including on a class-wide basis in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, provided all other requirements of the statute are satisfied.
8/24/2022