Summary

This opinion responds to your letter of September 10, 2007, in which Congress asked us, as part of a larger overall review of the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance's activities, to review the legality of the delegation of authorities of the Secretary of State and the President to the Director of Foreign Assistance (DFA). The creation of the DFA represented a significant structural change to the organization of U.S. foreign assistance. As a result, some Members of Congress questioned the propriety of the delegation of certain functions Congress had previously conferred by statute upon the President and the Secretary to the DFA, a position that does not receive Senate confirmation.