This memorandum sets out information and analysis concerning presidential references in official notifications and records to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (2001 AUMF; Public Law 107-40; 50 U.S.C. § 1541 note), enacted in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. It contains very brief discussions of the relevant provisions of the 2001 AUMF, and the uses of U.S. armed forces connected with 2001 AUMF authority, as well as excerpted language and other information from the notifications.

This legal sidebar discusses a federal district court's decision to deny the State of Texas's request that the federal government and a private refugee relief organization be temporarily barred from resettling Syrian refugees within the state pending resolution of Texas's challenge to such resettlement.

This report discusses the historical precedence of the House authorizing the filing of an amicus brief. The case involves state challenges to the Obama Administration's expansion of its deferred action program for certain aliens brought to the U.S. as children and unauthorized aliens who are the parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent resident aliens.

This legal sidebar briefly discusses the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) portion of Title 18 of the United States Code. In spite of its name and origin, RICO is not limited to "mobsters" or members of "organized crime" as those terms are popularly understood. Rather, it covers those activities which Congress felt characterized the conduct of organized crime, no matter who actually engages in them.

This legal sidebar briefly examines the prospect of highly-automated fleets of drones being used routinely to deliver packages, which raises a number of legal questions.

This legal sidebar briefly explains federal law in regards to hate crimes.

This report addresses commonly asked questions regarding the Supreme Court's evenly-divided June 23, 2016 decision about immigration. Consistent with recent practice, the decision affirms without any opinion or indication of the Justices' voting alignment an earlier decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit barring the Obama Administration from implementing two initiatives that would potentially have granted relief from removal to millions of aliens who entered or remained in the United States in violation of federal immigration law and lack legal immigration status.

This legal sidebar briefly examines D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland's views on the second amendment.

This legal sidebar discusses the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) rules outlining anti-money laundering due diligence requirements. These rules require certain financial institutions to identify and verify beneficial owners of legal entity customers.

This legal sidebar examines issues regarding the "separation of powers" among the three branches of U.S. government, specifically in regards to federal agencies.

This legal sidebar on statutory interpretation addresses the question of whether executive branch agencies are barred from taking actions that Congress has not specifically authorized them to take.

This report discusses Justice Antonin Scalia's last opinion for the court (Kansas v. Carr). There, the Court reversed two decisions of the Kansas Supreme Court and held that "the Eighth Amendment [does not] require... capital-sentencing courts to instruct the jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt." It also held that the Eighth Amendment did not require separate trials for two of the defendants in one of the Kansas cases.

This legal sidebar examines cases involving the revocation of the Washington Redskins' federally-registered trademarks (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse) and the refusal to grant registration for a rock band's name (In re Tam). These cases raise questions about the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (conventionally known as the Lanham Act), which denies trademark registration to certain offensive content.

This report discusses methods of contesting presidential election results on the basis of miscounts or fraud.

This report discusses sovereign states' immunity from suits and attachments by U.S. nationals except under very specific circumstances, as well as legal interpretations and cases involving immunity rules. It particularly describes state-sponsored terrorism and the effect of The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which was proposed to allow U.S. nationals to file civil suits in U.S. courts against foreign nations for aiding and abetting acts of terrorism under a new exception to the general rule of immunity.

This report discuses the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) civil forfeiture action against $1 billion worth of assets bought with money embezzled from the government of Malaysia by high-level officials in Malaysia from 2009 to 2015.

This report discusses laws governing the hiring of family members in the executive branch and ant-nepotism efforts.

This report discusses the case of "Nosal v. United States" and charges against Nosal for fraud, stealing trade secrets, and access without authorization charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The charges under the CFAA are discussed in-depth along with implications for consensual password sharing being covered under the act. Restitution of attorneys fees in the case by Nosal are also discussed.

This report discusses the TransCanada announcement that they planned to sue the United States under NAFTA agreements for rejecting the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. It also describes a suit in U.S. District Court regarding its view that the executive branch and the President don't have power over cross-border petroleum trade since Congress has passed general legislation regarding such matters as well as legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline which was vetoed by the President.

This report discusses Congress' right to strip federal courts of jurisdiction at any time including during litigation. It specifically discusses the case of "Patchak v. Jewell" concerning the Department of Interior's right to hold land in trust for a Native American tribe which led to Congress using their right to strip courts of jurisdiction to end the case.

This report discusses rules governing acceptance of gifts by government employees and how social media and the concept of being "friends" on a social media network effect the personal friendship clause of the gift ethics rules.

This report discusses the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) guidance document for federal agencies on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and considering the effects an action may have on climate change.

This report discusses legal rules governing the ability of the President to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and other similar agreements.

This report discusses the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in "Competitive Enterprise Institute v. Office of Science and Technology Policy" stating that emails pertaining to work in personal email accounts are accessible under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.