Opinions
State and Local Deputation of Federal Law Enforcement Officers During Stafford Act Deployments
Where federal law enforcement officers have been deployed pursuant to the Stafford Act and are properly carrying out federal disaster relief in a local community, they may accept deputation under state or local laws that expressly authorize them to make arrests, where such arrests would bear a logical relationship to or advance the purposes of the Stafford Act deployment.
Use of FY 2009/2010 Funds by the General Services Administration to Assist the Department of Veterans Affairs in Acquiring Human Resources for FY 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs properly obligated its Fiscal Year 2009/2010 funds when it and the General Services Administration signed an interagency agreement in August 2010, under which GSA agreed to assist the VA in obtaining a new contract for the provision of human resources.
GSA may use those funds in Fiscal Year 2012 to perform its obligations under the interagency agreement without running afoul of the requirement, developed by the Government Accountability Office, that servicing agencies acting under interagency agreements perform within a “reasonable time.”
State of Residence Requirements for Firearms Transfers
Section 922(b)(3) of title 18, which forbids federal firearms licensees from selling or delivering “any firearm to any person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in . . . the State in which the licensee’s place of business is located,” cannot be interpreted to define “reside in . . . the State” differently for citizens and aliens.
Recess Appointments Amid Pro Forma Senate Sessions
A twenty-day Senate recess may give rise to presidential authority to make recess appointments.
Congress’s provision for pro forma sessions during that twenty-day period does not have the legal effect of interrupting the recess for purposes of the Recess Appointments Clause.
In this context, the President has discretion to conclude that the Senate is unavailable to perform its advise-and-consent function and may exercise his power to make recess appointments.