lla The history of the Office of the United States Attorney is instructive as to the scope of their actions and duties. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Office of the United States Attorney, along with the office of the Attorney General. More specifically, the Judiciary Act provided for the appointment, in each district, of a “person learned in the law to act as attorney for the United States in such district, who shall be sworn or affirmed to the faithful execution of his office, whose duty it shall be to prosecute in such district all delinquents for crimes and _ offences, cognizable under the authority of the United States, and all civil actions in which the United States shall be concerned.”!® The Judiciary Act thus emphasized that U.S. Attorneys would enforce the law of the United States but did not determine that the actions of one U.S. Attorney could bind other districts, let alone the entire nation. In fact, the phrase “in such district,” repeated twice, implies that the scope of the actions and the duties of the U.S. Attorneys would be limited to their own districts, absent any express exceptions. Since 1789, while the number of federal districts has grown significantly, the duties of a U.S. Attorney and their scope remain largely unchanged. By statute, U.S. Attorneys, “within [their] district, shall (1) prosecute for all offenses against the United States; (2) prosecute or defend, for the Government, all civil actions, suits or proceedings in which the United States is concerned.”” Again, the scope of the duties of a U.S. Attorney is 16 An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, ch. 20, § 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93 (1789) (emphasis added). 7 98 U.S.C. § 547. DOJ-OGR-00000074