Reading Room Document

Request of the Department of Agriculture that it be authorized to begin submitting resource conservation and development loans and rural renewal loans in excess of $250,000 to the committees of Congress for approval

The document is a letter from William H. Rehnquist, Assistant Attorney General, to Wilfred H. Rommel, Assistant Director for Legislative Reference at the Bureau of the Budget, discussing the request of the Department of Agriculture to be authorized to submit resource conservation and development loans and rural renewal loans in excess of $250,000 to Congress for approval. The conclusion reached in the document is that the "no appropriation" clause does not subject to constitutional infirmities, and the President could resolve the loan impasse by advising the Secretary of Agriculture to proceed in compliance with the statute. The document also raises the question of whether the Department of Agriculture is legally required to secure the approval of the agriculture committees before making loans in excess of $250,000 if Congress passes general unspecified appropriations.

June 6, 1969