Legal Services

What this funds

Base funds will allow the Office of the General Counsel to continue to provide legal oversight, maintain the Office of Information Affairs, responsively serve legal needs and support all activities of the Department. In accordance with administration policy announced in the Budget, OGC will follow new government-wide grants guidance prohibiting the use of Federal funds to pay for subscriptions to academic journals, as well as for the publication of research results that are not specifically required by Federal statute or approved in advance by a Federal agency. This policy preserves funds to support actual research by ensuring that the American taxpayer does not pay for A decrease in base funds will reduce OGC staff from 214 to 170. At this level OGC will continue to provide legal oversight and maintain the Office of Information Affairs to support the Department. If combined with a corresponding amount in reimbursements from USDA agencies receiving legal services, OGC staff can remain at the staffing level of 214. OGC will continue to assist the Secretary and USDA agencies by providing legal advice, preparing transactional documents, representing the Department in administrative proceedings, providing technical assistance to Congress, and assisting the Department of Justice in litigation involving USDA. OGC also provides legal services to support USDA agencies in achieving their missions and offers legal assistance in areas that include but are not limited to farm programs, nutrition, food safety, and rural development. At this level, OGC will continue to ensure that the quality of OGC's advice remains high, and OGC will continue to provide legal services such as technical assistance to Congressional members and staff, issuing formal legal opinions, drafting regulations and legislative language for Department priorities like the Farm Bill, and defending the Department against lawsuits. (B) A decrease of $14,000 for National Security Related Expenses being transferred to the The decrease in funds of $14,000 for National Security Related Expenses, being realigned to the Office of Homeland Security (OHS), will enhance efficiency and effectiveness within USDA. This strategic realignment will centralize resources under OHS, which provides leadership in national security through policy development, emergency preparedness and response initiatives, and threat mitigation coordination. Consolidating the budget under OHS eliminates redundancies, ensures more coordinated resource allocation, and improves the execution of departmental security policies, ultimately bolstering the USDA's resilience and readiness without compromising overall security. Table OGC-7. Geographic Breakdown of Obligations and FTEs for Agricultural Research Table OGC-8. Classification by Objects - Discretionary Funding (thousands of dollars)

Extracted from Office of the General Counsel, p. 7. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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Answers come from the figures on this page and nothing else. These dollars are parsed from Agriculture (USDA)'s Congressional Justification and are approximate — confirm anything that matters against the cited page.