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 801–810 of 2202
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Compensation of Government Employees for Referring Potential Job Applicants
The provision of monetary awards or administrative leave to government employees who refer potential job candidates for certain difficult-to-fill vacancies in the government is not barred by 18 U.S.C. § 211, which prohibits the receipt of anything of value in consideration for helping a person obtain government employment. 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/file/24311/download.
8/17/1989
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Intrasession Recess Appointments
The President may make appointments under the Recess Appointments Clause dunng an intrasession recess of the Senate that is of substantial length. A 33-day summer recess is of sufficient length to permit the President to make recess appointments. An officer appointed under the Recess Appointments Clause during an intersession recess may serve until the end of the next session of Congress after the recess. 5 U.S.C. § 5503 does not prohibit salary payments to a recess appointee whose nomination a committee refused to send to the full Senate and whose nomination was not returned to the President prior to an adjournment. 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/file/24301/download.
8/3/1989
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Applicability of the Service Contract Act to Volunteer Workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 512, the Office of Legal Counsel has jurisdiction to resolve a legal dispute between the Departments of Commerce and Labor where the request for the opinion was made by the General Counsel of Commerce under authority delegated from the Secretary of Commerce. The Service Contract Act prohibits contractors operating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration library from using voluntary, uncompensated employees. Commerce may petition the Secretary of Labor for an exemption to permit the use of volunteer employees under the NOAA contract. 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/file/24296/download.
7/31/1989
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Constitutionality of Proposed Statutory Provision Requiring Prior Congressional Notification for Certain CIA Covert Actions
A proposed statutory provision that would oblige the President to notify Congress of any and all covert actions (other than those for the purpose of intelligence-gathering) to be funded out of the Reserve for Contingencies, regardless of the circumstances, would unconstitutionally infringe upon the President's constitutional responsibilities, including his duty to safeguard the lives and interests of Americans abroad. 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/file/24291/download.
7/31/1989
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Common Legislative Encroachments On Executive Branch Authority
This memorandum lists and briefly discusses a variety of common provisions of legislation that are offensive to principles of separation of powers, and to executive power in particular, from the standpoint of policy or constitutional law. 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/file/24286/download.
7/27/1989
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The President's Authority to Convene the Senate
Article II, section 3 of the Constitution gives the President a broad grant of authonty to convene Congress or either House of Congress "on extraordinary occasions." The language and purpose of the clause make plain that the President may exercise this authority to convene the Senate during an intra-session break. 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/file/24281/download.
7/26/1989
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Use of the National Guard To Support Drug Enforcement Agencies
This memo confirmed that the National Guard would be subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act when it acted in federal service, but not when it acted as a state militia.
9/2/2022
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Dual Office of Chief Judge of Court of Veterans Appeals and Director of the Office of Government Ethics
Federal law does not bar a single individual from serving simultaneously as the Chief Judge of the Court of Veterans Appeals and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 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/file/24276/download.
7/21/1989
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Constitutionality of the Qui Tam Provisions of the False Claims Act
Qui tam suits brought by private parties to enforce the claims of the United States violate the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because qui tam relators are "Officers of the United States" but are not appointed in accordance with the requirements of the Appointments Clause. Private qui tam actions violate the doctrine of Article III standing because the relator has suffered no personal "injury in fact." The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act violate the separation of powers doctrine because they impermissibly infringe on two aspects of the President's authority to execute the laws: the discretion whether to prosecute a claim and the authority to control the conduct of litigation brought to enforce the Government's interests. Given qui tam's clear conflict with constitutional principles, any argument to sustain the qui tam provisions based upon historical practice must fail. 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/file/24271/download.
7/18/1989
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Application of the Federal Bribery Statute to Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army
If the United States enters into appropriate settlement agreements with foreign countries whose nationals were victims of the 1988 Iran Air incident, the Attorney General would have the authority to certify such settlements for payment from the Judgment Fund, subject to approval by the Comptroller General. The Comptroller General's role is ministerial. 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/file/24266/download.
7/12/1989