Title: Report to Congress on the Use of Administrative Subpoena Authorities by Executive Branch Agencies and Entities
Headings: Report to Congress on the  Use of
Administrative Subpoena
Authorities by Executive Branch
Agencies and Entities

Report to Congress on the  Use of
Administrative Subpoena
Authorities by Executive Branch
Agencies and Entities
U.S.  Department of Justice
Office of Legal Policy
Report to  Congress on the Use of Administrative Subpoena
Authorities by Executive Branch Agencies and Entities,
Pursuant to P.L. 106-544, Section 7
Report to  Congress on the Use of Administrative Subpoena
Authorities by Executive Branch Agencies and Entities,
Pursuant to P.L. 106-544, Section 7
Appendix A1:
Appendix A2:
Appendix B:
Appendix C:
Administrative Subpoena Authorities Held by the Department of Treasury

Content: Findings. Congress grants the subpoena power held by  executive branch entities, and the scope and exercise of these authorities are  bound by statute. As the single most  significant source of administrative subpoena power is granted by the Inspector  General Act of 1978, the Inspector General subpoena authority is discussed in a  separate, detailed Subsection II.B. The study reveals a complex proliferation  of widely varying subpoena powers authorized by Congress. Submissions from  executive branch entities and legal research identified approximately 335  existing administrative subpoena authorities held by various executive branch  entities under current law. Some of these  subpoena authorities lack clear enforcement mechanisms. All federal executive branch administrative  subpoenas are enforced by the courts. Statutes granting administrative subpoena authorities, however, generally  fall into three enforcement-type categories: ( 1) statutes authorizing an agency  official to apply directly to an appropriate U.S. district court for  enforcement assistance, (2) statutes requiring an agency official to request  the Attorney General’s aid in applying to a U.S. district court for enforcement  assistance, and (3) statutes containing no identified enforcement mechanism. Agencies are  limited in their exercise of administrative subpoena authority by: ( 1) judicial  review of subpoena orders prior to potential judicial enforcement; (