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Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group

"BLAG" redirects here. For other uses, see Blag (disambiguation).

The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) has been a standing body of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993 that directs the activities of the House Office of General Counsel.[1] BLAG can direct the General Counsel to participate in litigation or file an amicus curiae brief in cases involving the interests of the House or BLAG can call for legislation or a House resolution authorizing the General Counsel to represent the House itself.[1] BLAG comprises five members of House leadership:

  • The Speaker
  • Majority leader
  • Minority leader
  • Majority whip
  • Minority whip

The House Office of General Counsel evolved from a low-level position that handled routine contracts. In the mid-1970s Speaker Tip O'Neil authorized it to handle constitutional questions, though it remained under the supervision of the House Clerk.[2] The House authorized the Speaker to intervene in Chadha v. INS, and after that lawsuit's resolution in 1983 the five members of the House leadership, without authorization from the House, established the House Bipartisan Leadership Group to represent the interests of the House in litigation, which it did several times as either intervenor or amicus over the next decade.[3]

On January 5, 1993, the Democratic-majority House adopted a rule creating the Office of General Counsel under the control of the Speaker "who shall consult with a Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group which shall include the majority and minority leaderships."[4] Republicans had offered without success an amendment that would have required approval by the entire House for the Office of Counsel to undertake certain kinds of litigation and enhanced BLAG's control of the office.[5]

BLAG has acted in a wide range of cases. In 1997, BLAG filed an amicus brief in Raines v. Byrd, an unsuccessful challenge to the Line Item Veto Act of 1996.[6] During consideration of Dickerson v. United States (2000), BLAG submitted an amicus brief to the Fourth Circuit and to the Supreme Court arguing that judicial review of a statute should not extend to the political considerations underlying its enactment.[7] In 2002, when a group of Democratic congressmen sued the Bush administration over access to census information, BLAG's Republican majority had the Office of House Council oppose them and argue that courts should not interfere in such disputes between the executive and legislative branches.[8] In 2004, BLAG filed an amicus brief in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow in support of a school district's practice of leading students in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, including the words "under God."[9] During the criminal proceedings against Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, following a unanimous vote of its five members, BLAG filed a brief calling for the return of papers seized from Jefferson's offices by the FBI in May 2006.[2][10]

  1. ^ a b James, Martin O. (2002). Congressional Oversight. Nova Publishers. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-59033-301-3. Retrieved March 7, 2011. The office "function[s] pursuant to the direction of the Speaker, who shall consult with a Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group," consisting of the majority leaders, majority whip, minority leader, and minority whip. The office has statutory authority to appear before state or federal courts in the course of performing its functions. 2 U.S.C. 130f. The office may appear as amicus curiae on behalf of the Speaker and the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group in litigation involving the institutional interests of the House. Where authorized by statute or resolution, the general counsel may represent the House itself in judicial proceedings.
  2. ^ a b von Zielbauer, Paul (June 16, 2006). "Little Office Becomes Big Player After Raid by the F.B.I." New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  3. ^ Congressional Record: 159 House, January 3, 2013, H13, accessed February 23, 2013
  4. ^ Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives, 109th Congress, House Document 241, 374 (Rule II, 670), available online, accessed July 6, 2012
  5. ^ Rebecca Mae Salokar, "Representing Congress: Protecting Institutional and Individual Members' Rights in Court," in Colton C. Campbell and John F. Stack, eds., Congress and the Politics of Emerging Rights (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), 109, available online, accessed July 6, 2012
  6. ^ Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, Congressional participation as amicus curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court (LFB, 2005), 125, 169
  7. ^ Neal Devins, "Asking the Right Questions: How the Courts Honored the Separation of Powers by Reconsidering Miranda," in University of Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 149, no. 1 (November 2000), 265n70, 272n91, 274n97
  8. ^ Louis Fisher, "Congressional Access to Information: Using Legislative Will and Leverage," Duke Law Journal, vol. 52, no. 2 (November 2002), 371-2
  9. ^ Robert Murray Thomas, God in the Classroom: Religion and America's Public Schools (Praeger, 2007), 178, available online, accessed July 6, 2012
  10. ^ Lubbers, Jeffrey S., ed. (2007). Developments in Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice 2005-2006. American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-59031-862-1. Retrieved February 13, 2012.

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