Reading Room Document

Attorney General's Authority with Respect to the Regulatory Initiatives of the U.S. Parole Commission

The Attorney General has the authority to require the United States Parole Commission, a component of the Department of Justice for administrative purposes, to participate in Department-wide regulatory coordination that does not entail substantive control of the Commission's regulatory initiatives. The Attorney General thus may require the Commission to submit any proposed regulations to the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs through the Department's Office of Policy Development and may also require the Commission to keep OPD informed of any regulatory initiatives under consideration. The Commission's statutory status as an "independent agency" within the Department precludes the Attorney General as a general matter from asserting substantive control over the Commission's policymaking, including its issuance of regulations. Accordingly, the Attorney General may not require the Commission to obtain OPD approval of its proposed regulations. 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/23426/download.

October 10, 1990