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Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join together in a federation, surrendering their individual sovereignty and many powers to the central government while retaining or reserving other limited powers. As a result, two or more levels of government exist within an established geographic territory. The body of law of the common central government is the federal law.

Examples of federal governments include those of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Russia, the former Soviet Union and the United States.

United States[link]

The United States Constitution provides for a federal government that is superior to state governments with regard to its enumerated powers. These powers include the authority to govern international affairs, the currency and national defense. After the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment applied the Constitution's Bill of Rights to state governments. Issues that arise under any legislation passed by Congress, an Executive Order of the President, or a decision of federal courts pursuant to the Constitution are governed by federal law.

The Supreme Court makes final decisions regarding all federal laws. United States federal laws are codified in the United States Code.

The Gang of Eight is a common colloquial term for a set of eight leaders within the United States Congress. Specifically, the Gang of Eight includes the leaders of each of the two parties from both the Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairs and ranking minority members of both the Senate Committee and House Committee for intelligence.

The President of the United States is required by 50 U.S.C. § 413(a)(1) to "ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States." However, under 50 U.S.C. § 413b(c)(2), the President may elect to report instead to the Gang of Eight when he thinks "it is essential to limit access" to information about a covert action.

The individuals are sworn to secrecy and there is no vote process.

Background[link]

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The term "Gang of Eight" gained wide currency in the coverage of the Bush administration's warrantless domestic spying program, in the context that no members of Congress other than the Gang of Eight were informed of the program, and they were forbidden to disseminate knowledge of the program to other members of Congress. The Bush administration has asserted that the briefings delivered to the Gang of Eight sufficed to provide Congressional oversight of the program and preserve the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches.^[1]

The non-partisan Congressional Research Service released a legal analysis on January 18, 2006,^[2][3] concluding that the Bush administration's refusal to brief any members of Congress on the warrantless domestic spying program other than the Gang of Eight is "inconsistent with the law".^[4][5]

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales repeatedly made references to the "Gang of Eight" when being questioned about the warrantless surveillance/ domestic spying while testifying at the Justice Department Oversight hearing held July 24, 2007. AG Gonzales' testimony may be retrieved from CSPAN online.

Current Members of the Gang of Eight[link]

• John Boehner (R), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Nancy Pelosi (D), House Minority Leader
• Harry Reid (D), Senate Majority Leader
• Mitch McConnell (R), Senate Minority Leader
• Mike Rogers (R), Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
• Dianne Feinstein (D), Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• Dutch Ruppersberger (D), Ranking Minority Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
• Saxby Chambliss (R), Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

See also[link]

• United States Senate Majority Leader
• United States Senate Minority Leader
• Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
• U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Popular Culture[link]

The Gang of Eight appeared in the Season Three finale of the political drama The West Wing. President Bartlet was staging an assassination of a foreign leader who was discovered to be behind several terrorist attacks, including a failed attack on the Golden Gate Bridge. The Gang of Eight on The West Wing consisted of the Majority and Minority Leaders from both the House and the Senate as well as the Chairman and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The Gang of Eight on The West Wing differed from the real world's Gang of Eight as the Speaker of the House (portrayed in the fourth and fifth seasons of the show by actor John Goodman) was not a member.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Scalable Context Timeline: Bush Administration Broke Law in Failing to Properly Inform Congress of Domestic Surveillance Program, History Commons
• 50 U.S.C. 413
• 50 U.S.C. 413b