Showing 151–160 of 2202

• 5/1/2017

  Authority of Individual Members of Congress to Conduct Oversight of the Executive Branch

  The constitutional authority to conduct oversight—that is, the authority to make official inquiries into and to conduct investigations of executive branch programs and activities—may be exercised only by each house of Congress or, under existing delegations, by committees and subcommittees (or their chairmen). Individual members of Congress, including ranking minority members, do not have the authority to conduct oversight in the absence of a specific delegation by a full house, committee, or subcommittee. They may request information from the Executive Branch, which may respond at its discretion, but such requests do not trigger any obligation to accommodate congressional needs and are not legally enforceable through a subpoena or contempt proceedings. 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/1085571/download.

  5/1/2017

• 3/13/2017

  Appointment of United States Trade Representative

  Were it constitutional, 19 U.S.C. § 2171(b)(4) would prohibit anyone "who has directly represented, aided, or advised a foreign entity . . . in any trade negotiation, or trade dispute, with the United States" from being appointed as United States Trade Representative. A nominee's previous work on two matters involving antidumping or countervailing duty proceedings before administrative agencies would not be disqualifying under the statute, because neither matter was a "trade negotiation" or, during the time of his engagement, a "trade dispute[] with the United States." 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/1078061/download.

  3/13/2017

• 1/27/2017

  Proposed Executive Order Entitled, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States"

  This memo reviews the form and legality of the Executive Order drafted by the Domestic Policy Council titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" (colloquially known as the "Trump travel ban"), which suspended entry into the United States for citizens from seven countries. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the memo was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/1097251/download.

  1/27/2017

• 1/20/2017

  Application of the Anti-Nepotism Statute to a Presidential Appointment in the White House Office

  Section 105(a) of title 3, U.S. Code, which authorizes the President to appoint employees in the White House Office "without regard to any other provision of law regulating the employment or compen-sation of persons in the Government service," exempts positions in the White House Office from the prohibition on nepotism in 5 U.S.C. § 3110. 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/1085561/download.

  1/20/2017

• 1/19/2017

  Who Qualifies as a "Very Senior" Employee Under 18 U.S.C. § 207(d)(1)(B)

  Section 207(d)(1)(B) of title 18 encompasses any Executive Branch employee who receives a rate of basic pay of exactly the amount payable for level I of the Executive Schedule, regardless of whether the employee's pay is required to be set at level I by law or is set at level I by administrative action. An employee's "rate of pay" in section 207(d)(1)(B) refers to the employee's rate of basic pay, exclusive of any other forms of compensation such as bonuses, awards, allowances, or locality-based comparability payments. 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/1078066/download.

  1/19/2017

• 1/18/2017

  Authority of the Department of Health and Human Services to Pay for Private Counsel to Represent an Employee Before Congressional Committees

  The Department of Health and Human Services may pay for private counsel to represent an employee who has been subpoenaed to appear before the staff of two congressional committees for a deposition at which agency counsel is not permitted to be present. 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/1078076/download.

  1/18/2017

• 1/10/2017

  Administration of the John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission

  To avoid the separation of powers concerns posed by inclusion of six members of Congress on the eleven-member John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission, the Commission should create an executive committee, composed of its five presidentially appointed members, which would be legally responsible for discharging the purely executive functions of the Commission. The six congressional members could participate in nearly all of the Commission's remaining activities, including in ceremonial functions. 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/1078081/download.

  1/10/2017

• 9/29/2016

  Obligating Carryover Funds in Violation of OMB Zero-Dollar Apportionment Rule

  At least in circumstances where an agency fails to submit an apportionment request for carryover funds to the Office of Management and Budget before the start of a fiscal year, the automatic zero-dollar apportionment effected by section 120.57 of OMB Circular A-11 is a valid apportionment for purposes of the Anti-Deficiency Act. As a result, in such circumstances, 31 U.S.C. § 1517 would prohibit an agency from expending or obligating funds exceeding that apportionment of zero. 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/2016-09-29-zero-apportion/download.

  9/29/2016

• 8/25/2016

  Statutory Mandate to Propose Legislation in Response to Medicare Funding Warning

  The Recommendations Clause bars Congress from enacting laws that purport to prevent the President from recommending legislation that he judges "necessary and expedient." The Recommendations Clause bars Congress from enacting laws that purport to require the President to recommend legislation even if he does not judge it "necessary and expedient." Section 802 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which requires the President to submit "proposed legislation" in response to a Medicare funding warning under section 801(a)(2), contravenes the Recommendations Clause and may be treated as advisory and non-binding. 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/2016-08-25-medicare-warning/download.

  8/25/2016

• 8/24/2016

  Emergency Statutes That Do Not Expressly Require a National Emergency Declaration

  The National Emergencies Act's coverage is not limited to statutes that expressly require the President to declare a national emergency, but rather extends to any statute "conferring powers and authorities to be exercised during a national emergency," unless Congress has exempted such a statute from the Act. 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/2016-08-24-natl-emerg/download.

  8/24/2016