The Federal Advisory Committee Act and Good Government

Abstract

Issues concerning the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which governs agency solicitation of policy advice from outside groups, have arisen with greater frequency in recent years. This is true in part as a result of regulatory initiatives that aim to include larger numbers of interested parties in regulatory decisionmaking processes. In this Article, Professors Croley and Funk first provide an overview of the history and basic structure of the FACA, and then consider the many legal questions surrounding the Act's purpose, scope, interpretation, and implementation. Along the way, they consider whether and how the FACA advances good-government goals such as openness and administrative efficiency. Their analysis is guided by the results of a survey of agency "advisory committee management officers," through which they sought to gather agencies' own views of the FACA's administration, as well as by contacts with the General Services Administration's Committee Management Secretariat, the agency which supervises all advisory-committee activities, and other agency personnel. Professors Croley and Funk conclude with a set of concrete recommendations for Congress, the White House, the courts, the GSA, and agencies that use federal advisory committees.