Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§3106 Employment of attorneys; restrictions

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart B— - Employment and Retention › Chapter CHAPTER 31— - AUTHORITY FOR EMPLOYMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - EMPLOYMENT AUTHORITIES › § 3106

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Department heads may not hire lawyers to handle lawsuits that involve the United States, federal agencies, or federal employees; they must send those matters to the Department of Justice. This does not apply under section 1037 of title 10.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §3106

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Except as otherwise authorized by law, the head of an Executive department or military department may not employ an attorney or counsel for the conduct of litigation in which the United States, an agency, or employee thereof is a party, or is interested, or for the securing of evidence therefor, but shall refer the matter to the Department of Justice. This section does not apply to the employment and payment of counsel under section 1037 of title 10.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 49.R.S. § 189.Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–861, § 7(a), 72 Stat. 1555. 5 U.S.C. 314.R.S. § 365.Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–861, § 7(b), 72 Stat. 1555. section 189 and 365 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, are combined and the section is revised to express the effect of the law since department heads have long employed, with the approval of Congress, attorneys to advise them in the conduct of their official duties. The law which concentrates the authority for the conduct of litigation in the Department of Justice is codified in section 516 of title 28 by this bill. The words “Executive department” are substituted for “department” as the definition of “department” applicable to R.S. § 189 is coextensive with the definition of “Executive department” in section 101. The words “or military department” are inserted to preserve the application of the source law. Before enactment of the National Security Act

Amendments

of 1949 (63 Stat. 578), the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force were Executive departments. The National Security Act

Amendments

of 1949 established the Department of Defense as an Executive Department including the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force as military departments, not as Executive departments. However, the source law for this section, which was in effect in 1949, remained applicable to the Secretaries of the military departments by virtue of section 12(g) of the National Security Act

Amendments

of 1949 (63 Stat. 591), which is set out in the reviser’s note for section 301. R.S. § 189 was part of title IV of the Revised Statutes. The Act of July 26, 1947, ch. 343, § 201(d), as added Aug. 1, 1949, ch. 412, § 4, 63 Stat. 579 (former 5 U.S.C. 171–1), which provides “Except to the extent inconsistent with the provisions of this Act [National Security Act of 1947], the provisions of title IV of the Revised Statutes as now or hereafter amended shall be applicable to the Department of Defense” is omitted from this title but is not repealed. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 3106

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73