Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-715_febh.pdf
Page Number: 20

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

15 

Opinion of the Court 

subject  on  which  legislation  could  be  had.”  Brief  for  Re-
spondent 46 (quoting Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U. S. 
109, 127 (1959), and Eastland, 421 U. S., at 506).  That ap-
proach is appropriate, the House argues, because the cases 
before  us  are  not  “momentous  separation-of-powers  dis-
putes.”  Brief for Respondent 1. 

Largely  following  the  House’s  lead,  the  courts  below 
treated  these  cases  much  like  any  other,  applying  prece-
dents that do not involve the President’s papers.  See 943 
F. 3d, at 656–670; 940 F. 3d, at 724–742.  The Second Cir-
cuit concluded that “this case does not concern separation 
of  powers”  because  the  House  seeks  personal  documents 
and the President sued in his personal capacity.  943 F. 3d, 
at 669.  The D. C. Circuit, for its part, recognized that “sep-
aration-of-powers  concerns  still  linger  in  the  air,”  and 
therefore it did not afford deference to the House.  940 F. 3d, 
at 725–726.  But, because the House sought only personal
documents, the court concluded that the case “present[ed]
no direct interbranch dispute.”  Ibid. 

The  House’s  approach  fails  to  take  adequate  account  of 
the  significant  separation  of  powers  issues  raised  by  con-
gressional subpoenas for the President’s information.  Con-
gress and the President have an ongoing institutional rela-
tionship  as  the  “opposite  and  rival”  political  branches 
established by the Constitution.  The Federalist No. 51, at 
349.  As a result, congressional subpoenas directed at the 
President differ markedly from congressional subpoenas we
have  previously  reviewed,  e.g.,  Barenblatt,  360  U. S.,  at 
127; Eastland, 421 U. S., at 506, and they bear little resem-
blance to criminal subpoenas issued to the President in the 
course  of  a  specific  investigation,  see  Vance,  ante,  p.  ___; 
Nixon,  418  U. S.  683.    Unlike  those  subpoenas,  congres-
sional subpoenas for the President’s information unavoida-
bly pit the political branches against one another.  Cf. In re 
Sealed Case, 121 F. 3d 729, 753 (CADC 1997) (“The Presi-