Skip to main content

Organization, Mission and Functions Manual

Organization, Mission and Functions Manual

Office of the Executive Secretariat

History

Established by Attorney General William French Smith in 1982, the Office of the Executive Secretariat serves as a liaison between the Department's leadership offices and its components by overseeing the review and approval of official documents and coordinating the flow of information critical to rigorous decision-making.  To emphasize its central role in helping to coordinate information flow and official documents in the Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland established the Office of the Executive Secretariat as its own component in September 2023, reporting directly to the Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco.

Mission

The Office of the Executive Secretariat (OES) serves as a liaison between the Department of Justice’s leadership offices and its components by overseeing the review and approval of official documents and coordinating the flow of information critical to rigorous decision making.

Major Functions

The major functions of the Office of the Executive Secretariat are to:

  • Serve as a liaison between the Department of Justice’s leadership offices, its components, other Executive Branch agencies and entities, Congress, and the public.
  • Assign, track, and clear documents for senior leadership review or approval.
  • Assign and track correspondence addressed to the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and Associate Attorney General, as well as White House correspondence.
  • Provide an electronic document management system for department-wide use.
  • Maintain official recordkeeping for the Department’s senior leadership for designated official documents and specified departmental actions, including but not limited to the Justice Manual.