Office of Legal Counsel
Office of Legal Counsel
About The Office
By delegation from the Attorney General, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel provides authoritative legal advice to the President and all the Executive Branch agencies. The Office drafts legal opinions of the Attorney General and also provides its own written opinions and oral advice in response to requests from the Counsel to the President, the various agencies of the Executive Branch, and offices within the Department. Such requests typically deal with legal issues of particular complexity and importance or about which two or more agencies are in disagreement. The Office also is responsible for providing legal advice to the Executive Branch on all constitutional questions and reviewing pending legislation for constitutionality.
All executive orders and proclamations proposed to be issued by the President are reviewed by the Office of Legal Counsel for form and legality, as are various other matters that require the President's formal approval.
In addition to serving as, in effect, outside counsel for the other agencies of the Executive Branch, the Office of Legal Counsel also plays a special role within the Department itself. It reviews all proposed orders of the Attorney General and all regulations requiring the Attorney General’s approval. It also performs a variety of special assignments referred by the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General.
The Office of Legal Counsel is not authorized to give legal advice to private persons.
New from OLC
Posted January 20, 2017:
Application of the Anti-Nepotism Statute to a Presidential Appointment in the White House Office (Jan. 20, 2017)
Posted January 19, 2017:
Application of the Recommendations Clause to Section 802 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Aug. 25, 2016)
Posted January 19, 2017:
Whether the Review Described in Section 4 of Executive Order 13497 Remains Pending for Purposes of Section 7 of That Order (Aug. 28, 2009)
Posted December 1, 2016:
Applicability of the National Emergencies Act to Statutes That Do Not Expressly Require the President to Declare a National Emergency (Aug. 24, 2016)
Posted August 2, 2016:
Posted July 30, 2016:
Authority to Permit Part-Time Employees to Work Regularly Scheduled Workweeks of 33 to 39 Hours (Dec. 31, 2015)
Posted July 28, 2016:
Posted May 2, 2016:
Posted April 21, 2016:
Interpretation of Article 17 Bis of the US-EU Air Transport Agreement (Apr. 14, 2016)
Posted March 18, 2016:
Residence Requirement for Assistant United States Attorneys Under 28 U.S.C. § 545(a) (Nov. 20, 2012)
Census Confidentiality and the PATRIOT Act (Jan. 4, 2010)
Posted July 23, 2015:
Posted November 20, 2014:
Posted July 25, 2014:
Immunity of the Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach From Congressional Subpoena (July 15, 2014)
Curtis E. Gannon
Acting Assistant Attorney General
Office of Legal Counsel
(202) 514-2051