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Page Number: 62

2 

TRUMP v. UNITED STATES 

BARRETT, J., concurring in part 

possibility  that  the  Constitution  forbids  prosecuting  the 
President  for  any  official  conduct,  instructing  the  lower
courts  to  address  that  question  in  the  first  instance.    See 
ante, at 14.  I would have answered it now.  Though I agree
that a President cannot be held criminally liable for conduct 
within his “conclusive and preclusive” authority and closely 
related  acts,  ante,  at  8–9,  the  Constitution  does  not  vest 
every exercise of executive power in the President’s sole dis-
cretion, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 
579,  637  (1952)  (Jackson,  J.,  concurring).1   Congress  has
concurrent  authority  over  many  Government  functions,
and  it  may  sometimes  use  that  authority  to  regulate  the 
President’s official conduct, including by criminal statute. 
Article II poses no barrier to prosecution in such cases.

I would thus assess the validity of criminal charges pred-
icated on most official acts—i.e., those falling outside of the 
President’s  core  executive  power—in  two  steps.    The  first 
question is whether the relevant criminal statute reaches
the President’s official conduct.  Not every broadly worded 
statute does.  For example, §956 covers conspiracy to mur-
der in a foreign country and does not expressly exclude the
President’s decision to, say, order a hostage rescue mission 
abroad.  18 U. S. C. §956(a).  The underlying murder stat-
ute, however, covers only “unlawful” killings.  §1111.  The 
Office of Legal Counsel has interpreted that phrase to re-
flect a public-authority exception for official acts involving 
the military and law enforcement.  Memorandum from D. 
Barron,  Acting  Assistant  Atty.  Gen.,  to  E.  Holder,  Atty. 
—————— 

1 Consistent with our separation of powers precedent, I agree with the
Court that the supervision and removal of appointed, high ranking Jus-
tice  Department  officials  falls  within  the  President’s  core  executive 
power.  See  Seila  Law  LLC  v.  Consumer  Financial  Protection  Bureau, 
591 U. S. 197, 213–215 (2020); ante, at 19–21.  I do not understand the 
Court to hold that all exercises of the Take Care power fall within the 
core executive power.  Cf. post, at 24 (SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting).  I agree 
with the dissent that the Constitution does not justify such an expansive
view.  Ibid.