Acting Attorneys General

Acting Attorneys General

From 1870 until 1953, the Solicitor General served as Acting Attorney General in the event that the office o f Attorney General was vacant or the Attorney General was absent or disabled. This plan o f succession was modified by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1953 and by the codification in 1977 at 28 U.S.C. § 508 providing for the following statutory succession: Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, and in such order as the Attorney General shall designate, the Solicitor General and the Assistant Attorneys General.

March 30, 1984

M em orandum O p in io n for th e Attorney G eneral

We have prepared in the time available a list of all of the documented occasions in which individuals have served as Acting Attorney General be­ cause of a vacancy in the office of the Attorney General.1 From the time of the establishment of the Department of Justice in 1870 until 1953, the statute governing succession to the office of Attorney General designated the Solicitor General as the individual who would be Acting Attorney General in case of the absence or disability, of the Attorney General, or of a vacancy in the office.2 Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1953, § 2, 67 Stat. 636 (1953), designated the Deputy Attorney General to be the first in order of succession, followed by the Solicitor General. This change was subsequently codified in 28 U.S.C. § 508. In 1977, the statute was amended to include the Associate Attorney General as the official who is next in line immediately after the Deputy Attorney General. The Solicitor General and Assistant Attorneys General were listed as the officials next in the line of succession, subject to the Attorney General’s discretion as to their sequence. The statute now reads as follows: (a) In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney General, or of his absence or disability, the Deputy Attorney General may exercise all the duties of that office, and for the purpose of section 3345 of title 5 the Deputy Attorney General is the first assistant to the Attorney General. (b) When, by reason of absence, disability, or vacancy in office, neither the Attorney General nor the Deputy Attorney General is available to exercise the duties of the office of Attor­

1 U ndoubtedly there are other occasions that are not as well docum ented but that could be located with further research. This list should not be view ed as exhaustive. 2 See A ct o f July 20, 1870, ch. 150, § 2, 16 Stat. 162, 162; Rev. Stat. § 347 (1873); 5 U .S.C . § 293 (1952).

ney General, the Associate Attorney General shall act as Attor­ ney General. The Attorney General may designate the Solicitor General and the Assistant Attorneys General, in further order of succession, to act as Attorney General. 28 U.S.C. § 508. We have found records of the following officials having acted as Attorney General during vacancies in that office pursuant to these various provisions:

Nam e D ates o f Service Reason fo r Vacancy Solicitor General October 21, 1973 to Resignation of Robert H. Bork3 January 3, 1974 Elliot L. Richardson Deputy Attorney March 2, 1972 to Resignation of General Richard June 12, 1972 John N. Mitchell G. Kleindienst Deputy Attorney October 3, 1966 to Resignation of General Ramsey March 2, 1967 Nicholas deB. Clark Katzenbach Deputy Attorney September 4, 1964 Resignation of General Nicholas to February 10, Robert F. Kennedy deB. Katzenbach 1965 Solicitor General April 7, 1952 to Resignation of Phillip B. Perlman May 27, 1952 J. Howard McGrath Solicitor General July 10, 1941 to Resignation of Francis Biddle September 5, 1941 Robert H. Jackson Solicitor General March 4, 1925 to Resignation of James M. Beck March 16, 1925 Harlan Fiske Stone Solicitor General April 1, 1901 to Resignation of John K. Richards April 5, 1901 Joseph McKenna Solicitor General January 18, 1898 to Resignation of John K. Richards February 1, 1898 John W. Griggs Solicitor General October 24, 1881 to Resignation of Samuel H. Phillips January 2, 1882 Wayne MacVeagh Secretary of the March 3, 1868 to Resignation of Interior Orville July 14, 1868 Henry Stanberry H. Browning 3 At the tim e o f M r. B o rk 's service, there w ere vacancies in the offices o f both the A ttorney G eneral and the D eputy A ttorney G eneral, each having resigned on the sam e day. The office o f the A ssociate Attorney G eneral had not yet been created. In United States v. Halmo, 386 F. Supp. 593 (E.D. Wis. 1974), the court held that Mr. B ork becam e A cting A ttorney G eneral pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 508(b). The court also upheld his service as A cting A ttorney General for an unlim ited period o f time.

Name D ates o f Service Reason fo r Vacancy

Assistant Attorney July 17, 1866 to Resignation of General J. Hubley July 23, 1866 James Speed Ashton Secretary of the March 18, 1848 to Resignation of Navy John Y. July 1, 1848 Nathan Clifford Mason⁴

There is only one period on this list (for two-and-a-half months in late 1973) during which there was a sustained vacancy in both of the Department’s two top positions. The longest absence we have documented in the office of Attorney General during which an Acting Attorney General served is approxi­ mately five months. We are aware of no other hiatus between confirmed Attorneys General in excess of five months.

T h eo do re B. O lso n Assistant Attorney General Office o f Legal Counsel

Footnotes

[4] The President designated Mr. Brow ning, Mr. A shton, and Mr. M ason prior to the establishm ent o f the Department o f Justice. M r. Mason had previously served as A ttorney General from M arch 4, 1845 until September 9, 1846.