• The Administrative Procedure Act defines the term agency negatively as being any U.S. governmental authority that does not include Congress, the courts, the government of the District of Columbia, the government of any territory or possession, courts-martial, or military authority. 5 USCA § 551. The caselaw on this definition focuses on authority: generally, an entity is an agency if it has authority to take binding action. Other federal statutes define agency to include any executive department, government corporation, government-controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch, or federal regulatory board. [Cases: Administrative Law and Procedure 101; United States 30. C.J.S. Public Administrative Law and Procedure § 8; United States § 49.]
federal agency
A department or other instrumentality of the executive branch of the federal government, in-cluding a government corporation and the Government Printing Office.
