Reading Room Document

Issues Raised by Provisions Directing Issuance of Official or Diplomatic Passports

Section 129(e) of Pub. L. No. 102-138 and section 503 of Pub. L. No. 102-140 are unconstitutional to the extent that they purport to limit the President's ability to issue more than one official or diplomatic passport to United States government personnel. The single-passport requirements set forth in section 129(e) and section 503 are severable from the remainder of the statutes in which they appear. The President is constitutionally authorized to decline to enforce the portions of section 129(e) and section 503 that purport to limit the issuance of official and diplomatic passports. 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/20581/download.

January 17, 1992