§433 Relationship with other Federal laws

Summary

When the Defense Department runs a commercial activity under this law, it must follow the usual federal rules that apply to agencies. But if the Secretary of Defense finds that following some of those rules would risk exposing an approved intelligence operation, the Secretary can waive the needed rules only as far as required to avoid that risk. Any such decision and waiver must be in writing and must list the specific rules being waived. The Secretary can only pass this power to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, an Under Secretary of Defense, an Assistant Secretary of Defense, or a Secretary of a military department. The covered rules include those about funds, buying or managing property and services, handling information, hiring, travel and housing payments, creating legal entities, and foreign trade or finance limits that could reveal the activity is a U.S. Government operation.