Reading Room Document

Power of the President to Remove Presidential Appointees From the National Capital Planning Commission

There is no indication in the text or legislative history of the Home Rule Act that Congress intended to limit the President's power to remove his appointees from the National Capital Planning Commission. The composition of the Commission and the duties imposed on it indicate that Congress did not intend it to be a quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial body operating free of the President's policy influence, and its duties are essentially of an executive nature. Thus any limitation on the President's removal power would be unconstitutional. 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/22981/download.

March 17, 1982