Reading Room Document

Presidential Authority to Protect National Security Information

This opinion considers whether the president has the constitutional authority to withhold sensitive national security information from Congress involving the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by other nations. The opinion concludes that 22 U.S.C. § 3282, which creates reporting requirements for proliferation information, would not demand Congressional notification if the president determines that disclosure of the information could harm national security. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/936261/download.

January 27, 2003