Opinions
Relocation Deadline Provision Contained in the 1996 Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act
Requirement in the Appropriations Act that the United States Information Agency relocate the Office of Cuba Broadcasting to south Florida by a date almost a month before the Act was signed into law constitutes a technical or typographical error, and USIA is entitled to obligate the funds appropriated in the provision, even though it is unable to turn back the clock and comply with the provision’s literal deadline.
Use of Federal Employees for Olympic Security
Where the teams and delegations visiting the United States for the Olympic Games in Atlanta have been designated “official guests” of the United States by the Secretary of State pursuant to §§ 112, 1116 and 1201 of the Criminal Code, those provisions authorize federal agencies to provide their employees to assist in security operations at the Atlanta Olympics upon request of the Attorney General.
Section 609 of the FY 1996 Omnibus Appropriations Act
A provision of an appropriations law purporting to condition the use of funds to pay for the United States’ diplomatic representation to Vietnam on the President’s making a particular detailed certification “within 60 days” does not require the cutoff of the covered funds until such time as the President has made the certification, but instead permits use of the funds to maintain diplomatic representation in Vietnam for 60 days after enactment.
Taken as a whole, the provision impermissibly impairs the exercise of the core Presidential power to recognize, and maintain diplomatic relations with, a foreign government. Hence, the provision is unconstitutional and without legal force or effect.
Placing of United States Armed Forces Under United Nations Operational or Tactical Control
Proposed funding restriction generally prohibiting the President from placing United States Armed Forces under the operational or tactical control of the United Nations in U.N. peacekeeping operations would unconstitutionally constrain the President’s exercise of his authority as Commander-in-Chief and unconstitutionally undermine the President’s constitutional authority with respect to the conduct of diplomacy.
Granting the President the authority to waive the prohibition if he provides a certification and report to Congress would not remove the funding restriction’s constitutional defect, because Congress cannot burden or infringe the President’s exercise of a core constitutional power by attaching conditions precedent to the exercise of that power.
Protective Assertion of Executive Privilege Regarding White House Counsel’s Office Documents
Executive privilege may properly be asserted with respect to the entire set of White House Counsel’s Office documents currently being withheld from the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of Representatives, pending a final Presidential decision on the matter. This would be a protective assertion of executive privilege designed to ensure the President’s ability to make a final decision, after consultation with the Attorney General, as to which specific documents are deserving of a conclusive claim of executive privilege.
The Constitutional Separation of Powers Between the President and Congress
This memorandum provides an overview of the constitutional issues that periodically arise concerning the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Although that relationship is shaped in part by the policy and political concerns of the President and Congress of the day, the political interaction between the President and Congress takes place within an enduring constitutional framework that confers powers and responsibilities on both elected branches. In this memorandum we discuss the general principles underlying separation of powers analysis, and we address certain specific questions that have arisen in the past. Any set of examples is necessarily illustrative rather than exhaustive, however, and the Office of Legal Counsel is always available to assist in reviewing legislation or other congressional action for potential separation of powers issues.
The Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy
The Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy is not subject to the Emoluments Clause.
Eligibility of Citizens of Freely Associated States for HUD Financial Assistance
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may not make financial assistance, including assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, available for the benefit of citizens of the Freely Associated States (Federated States o f Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau) who have entered the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as non-immigrants pursuant to section 141 of the Compact of Free Association.
Legal Authority to Approve Changes in Use of Property Under Section 414 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969
The proposed sale of property at its fair market value in order to raise funds to build low and moderate income housing on different property constitutes a change in the use of property under section 414 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969 and the terms of the deed of the 1974 sale of the property.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the General Services Administration could approve the proposed sale of property to a public body without violating section 414.
Constitutionality of Citizenship Requirement for Participation in Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program
The Small Business Administration’s regulation imposing a citizenship requirement for participation in its 8(a) program for disadvantaged contractors is constitutional.