U.S. Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DOJ) was created as an executive department by the U.S. Congress in 1870 (chap. 150, 16 Stat. 162). While the Judiciary Act of 1789 (chap. 20, sec. 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92–93) had originally created the Office of the Attorney General, the legal workload quickly became problematic, requiring the use of private attorneys to work on cases. The use of private attorneys led to heavy expenditures by the government due to ever-increasing amounts of litigation as the country grew. In an effort to control expenses, Congress created the DOJ with the attorney general as its head to handle the legal workload. The 1870 Act specified that the department was to handle the legal business of the United States and put control ...