Content:
This module contains materials issued by the Executive branch of the U.S. government. These materials include:
- Presidential Papers and Executive Orders
- Administrative Agency Manuals, Hearings and Decisions
- Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations
Overview of Executive Branch Responsibilities
Federal administrative bodies issue rules and regulations of a quasi- legislative character; valid federal regulations have the force of law and preempt state laws and rules. Rules and regulations may only be issued under statutory authority granted by Congress.
The President also has broad powers to issue executive orders. An executive order is a directive from the President to other officials in the executive branch. Proposed and final rules, executive orders and other executive branch notices are published daily in the Federal Register. No person may be subject to any rule required to be published in the Federal Register and not so published. 5 U.S.C. sec. 552(a)(1).
Every federal agency must publish: descriptions of its organizational structure; general statements of how the agency functions; its rules of procedures, available forms and descriptions of all papers, final reports or examinations; and all substantive rules or statements of general applicability adopted by the agency. Rules may be challenged in federal court.
The federal courts have sole authority to review agency rules and actions to ensure they are legal under the substantive federal statute. An official citation to the Federal Register includes the volume, page number and year, for example: 43 Fed. Reg. 11,110 (1978). Final administrative rules are published first in the Federal Register and then in the Code of Federal Regulation; an example of an official citation to the Code is 40 C.F.R. pt. 260, which refers to title 40, part 260 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
I. Presidential Papers and Executive Orders
The President is the highest ranking member of the Executive branch; therefore he is often called the Chief Executive Officer. Subject to Congressional approval, the President selects the heads of the various agencies to lead the agency in a manner compatible with the President’s ideology. As a general rule, the heads of the various Departments form the President’s Cabinet.
A. Presidential Papers
The President publishes certain documents which include: presidential writings, addresses to the public, news conferences, press releases, executive orders, remarks, nominations, proclamations and other materials. The White House Press Office releases these documents to the public.
· To locate the presidential documents relating to disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Floyd:
SOURCE: Federal Legal – U.S. / Executive Branch Materials / Public Papers of the Presidents
SEARCH: Hurricane Floyd w/20 disaster relief
· To locate all of the radio addresses for 1999:
SOURCE: Federal Legal – U.S. / Executive Branch Materials / Public Papers of the Presidents
SEARCH: headline (radio addresses) and date is 1999
B. Executive Orders
Executive Orders are one way by which the President can communicate policies and instructions to the heads of Executive departments and agencies. Executive Orders are defined by statute to include documents issued by Presidents that have "general applicability and legal effect." Since the enactment of the Federal Register Act in 1936, Executive Orders must appear in the Federal Register so that the public and Congress may be informed of the President's policies and instructions. Orders of the President that do not have general applicability and legal effect need not be published in the Federal Register. These orders may be published or they may not be.
· To locate Executive Order 12345:
SOURCE: Federal Legal – U.S. / Executive Branch Materials / Executive Orders
OR
SOURCE: Federal Legal- U.S. / Federal Register
SEARCH: heading (executive order and 12345)
· To locate executive orders on the American Heritage River Initiative:
SOURCE: Federal Legal – U.S. / Executive Branch Materials / Executive Orders
OR
SOURCE: Federal Legal- U.S. / Federal Register
SEARCH: heading (executive order) and American Heritage Rivers Initiative
II. Administrative Agency Manuals, Hearings and Decisions
A. Agency Overview
Agencies typically regulate an industry or set of practices, such as the aviation industry or vehicle emission standards. Agencies are created by the legislature through "enabling statutes". An enabling statute establishes the agency and defines its power.
Administrative Agencies have burgeoned this century. They often play a larger role in legal research than the three customarily recognized branches of government. Federal agencies generally fall into two categories.
1. Executive Agencies
Executive agencies are agencies located within the Executive Branch. Federal cabinet departments, such as the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, are examples of executive agencies.
High-ranking executive positions within these agencies are appointed by the President and subject to Senate approval. These officials are subject to removal by the President at any time without cause.
· To locate the enabling statute for the Department of Transportation:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / United States Code Service Materials (USCS) / United States Code Service – Titles 1 through 50
SEARCH: heading (Department of Transportation and organization)
2. Independent Agencies
Independent agencies, by contrast, exist outside all three branches. The Federal Reserve Board and The National Transportation Safety Board are examples of independent agencies.
These agencies were designed with this arrangement in an effort to insulate them from the political maneuverings of the President and Congress. This "insulation" is intended to allow these agencies to independently pursue their statutorily prescribed goals.
As with executive agencies, high-ranking officials of independent agencies are also appointed by the President, with consent of the Senate. These officials, however, are usually appointed for fixed terms. They generally cannot be removed from office except under special circumstances and then with approval of the Congress.
· To locate the enabling statute for the National Transportation Safety Board:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / United States Code Service (USCS) Materials / United States Code Service – Titles 1 through 50
SEARCH: heading (National Transportation Safety Board)
B. Agency Manuals
Certain agencies publish manuals that give direction regarding internal procedures within the agency or explain certain programs for which the agency is responsible. The manual should be related to the purpose, organization or operation of the agency as established in the agency’s enabling legislation.
· To locate section 755.2 or any references to section 755.2 in the Health Care Financing Administration Program Manual:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Administrative Agency Materials / Individual Agencies / Health Care Financing Administration Program Manual
SEARCH: 755.2 or @755.2
· To locate the entire title of the HCFA program manual for End Stage Renal Disease Network:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Administrative Agency Materials / Individual Agencies / Health Care Financing Administration Program Manual
SEARCH: Title (End Stage Renal Disease Network)
C. Administrative Hearings and Decisions
Through administrative hearings and decisions, agencies rule a vast number of claims or cases that would overload the judiciary if tried in the courts. The Veterans Administration, for example, was created by Congress to handle the large number of benefit claims filed by veterans. A veteran can file a claim within the federal judicial system only after all administrative remedies have been exhausted.
· To locate decisions from the Occupational Health and Review Commission that mention safe work environment:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Administrative Agency Materials / Individual Agencies / Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Decisions
SEARCH: safe work environment
· To locate decisions from the Occupational Health and Review Commission that were issued by Administrative Law Judge Botkin:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Administrative Agency Materials / Individual Agencies / Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Decisions
SEARCH: ALJ (Botkin)
III. The Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations
A. Federal Register
The Federal Register contains regulations, notices and other postings issued by an agency. Published daily, the Federal Register lets the legal researcher know immediately if a regulation has been affected by the agency. The Federal Register on LexisNexis is updated daily.
A citation to the Federal Register includes a volume number, the name of the materials, and a page number. The page number is highly important in the Federal Register since it is numbered consecutively throughout the calendar year. On January 1, of each year the page number is 1; by December 31, the page number has increased considerably.
For example, 50 Fed. Reg. 37,638 (1985)
Volume
Name of the Materials
Page / Year
50
Fed. Reg.
37,638 (1985)
(Federal Register)
Valencia Oranges Grown in Arizona and Designated Part of California; Limitation of Handling
[Valencia Orange Reg. 361, Amdt. 1; Valencia Orange Reg. 362]
September 17, 1985
Click here to see a sample “Proposed Rule” Federal Register document.
Click here to see a sample “Final Rule” Federal Register document.
· To locate the postings by the Food & Drug Administration:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Federal Register
SEARCH: agency (Food & Drug Administration) food /10 additive
· To locate postings affecting 40 CFR 300.425:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Federal Register
SEARCH: CFR (40 and 300) and 300.425
· To locate final rules by the Department of Justice:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Federal Register
SEARCH: agency (department of justice) and action (final rule) and date is 1999
· To retrieve 50 Federal Register 37,638:
SOURCE: Get a Document/ By Citation
SEARCH: 50 FR 37638
B. Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) contains regulations promulgated by federal agencies. The laws created by an agency in performing its duties are called rules or regulations and are primary authority, because the agency has been empowered to make laws through the enabling statute.
These rules have the force of law throughout the country; their authoritative weight is ultimately, however, determined by the legislature and is subject to review by the courts.
The Code of Federal Regulations codifies administrative regulations by subject, like the United States Code. The C.F.R. is a 50 title series and is cited much like statutory law. A typical C.F.R. citation is 29 C.F.R. 1926.20:
Title
Name of the Code
Section / Subsection
29
C.F.R.
1926.20
(Labor)
(Code of Federal Regulations)
(Safety and Health Regulations for Construction; Subpart C, General Safety and Health Provisions)
Click here to see a sample CFR document.
· To locate regulations under the Labor Titles of the CFR that concern drug testing:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / CFR
SEARCH: heading (labor) and test! w/5 drug
· To locate regulations from Part 1926 and Title 29:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / CFR
SEARCH: Title (29) and Part (1926)
· To locate regulations promulgated under the authority of 40 U.S.C. 333:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / CFR
SEARCH: authority (40 pre/10 333)
· To locate regulations affected by a certain Federal Register Notice:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / CFR
SEARCH: history (58 FR 35078)
C. Archived Code of Federal Regulations
Incidents that are being addressed today may need to be governed by the regulations for the date of the incident. Therefore, the researcher must review the regulation from a prior year.
· To locate prior versions of 29 C.F.R. 1926.20:
SOURCE: Federal Legal-U.S. / Archived Code of Federal Regulations / CFR Archives
SEARCH: cite (29 and 1926.20)
Click HERE to go to Executive and Administrative Practice Questions.