§4308 General provisions

Summary

The Secretary can make rules and orders needed to carry out this chapter. Following those rules protects people who act under them: if someone follows a Secretary’s rule, instruction, or order, that action counts as a full discharge of their obligation and they cannot be held liable in court or in administrative proceedings for good-faith actions or omissions done under the chapter or under the Secretary’s rules. To run the program, the Secretary may take employees from other federal agencies on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis and may hire experts or consultants under section 3109 of title 5 without waiting for all usual hiring steps, but those hires must end after 60 days if the normal requirements are still not met. The Secretary can make contracts and subcontracts for supplies and services and may skip usual procurement rules; advertising for bids is expected but not required if it is impractical or would cause delay, or if the purchase is $10,000 or less. Heads of federal agencies may loan property to and provide support for the Department of State and may get services from it, with reimbursements credited to the agency’s appropriation. Foreign mission property used or held by the Department of State is protected from attachment, execution, injunction, or similar legal process. Most decisions under the chapter are left to the Secretary’s discretion. The Secretary may move money to the working capital fund under section 2684, and revenues (including gifts) for the chapter can be credited to that fund; only amounts in that fund may be used to carry out the chapter.