Political Will and the Unitary Executive: What Makes an Independent Agency Independent?

Authors

Neal Devins, William & Mary Law School

Abstract

The government does not speak a unitary voice in court. The exercise of independent litigating authority by governmental entities connotes the absence of White House authority and, with it, disunity in interpretation. Sometimes Congress encourages such disunity through statutory grants of independent litigating authority. Sometimes the executive accommodates the desires of governmental entities to speak their own voice in particular cases. At other times the executive acknowledges an implicit claim of right for an independent agency or governmental corporation to control its litigation.

Keywords

Business and the Law, Employment, Equal Employment, Dispute Resolution

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law

Recommended Citation

Neal Devins, Political Will and the Unitary Executive: What Makes an Independent Agency Independent?, 15 Cardozo L. Rev. 273 (1993).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol15/iss1/20