§127 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

Gives the Secretary of Defense, the DoD Inspector General, and the Secretaries of the military departments the power to pay for emergency or unexpected expenses from available appropriations. They may approve such spending, certify amounts they want left unspecified (and that certification is enough to pay the bill), and they may let other people in their offices exercise that power, including allowing those people to pass the power on to others. They cannot spend more than $500,000 under this power without first telling the congressional defense committees. If the amount is over $1,000,000, the Secretary of Defense must wait 15 days after telling the committees before spending; if it is more than $500,000 but not over $1,000,000, the Secretary must wait 5 days. The Secretary can skip the wait if he believes national security would be harmed, but must immediately tell the committees and give any needed information (including classified material) to the chair and ranking member. For intelligence or counterintelligence actions, no spending over $100,000 is allowed until the Secretary tells both the congressional defense committees and the congressional intelligence committees and waits 15 days; the Secretary may waive that wait for extraordinary national security reasons but then must send a written notice and explanation within 48 hours. By December 1 each year the Secretary must report to the congressional defense committees all such spending from the prior fiscal year and must report intelligence-related spending to the congressional intelligence committees; each report must list, for every expenditure over $100,000, the purpose, amount, who approved it, why other authorities could not be used, and any other details the Secretary wants to include. Congressional intelligence committees means the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Title 10, §127

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to the limitations of subsection (c), and within the limitation of appropriations made for the purpose, the Secretary of Defense, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, and the Secretary of a military department within his department, may provide for any emergency or extraordinary expense which cannot be anticipated or classified. When it is so provided in such an appropriation, the funds may be spent on approval or authority of the Secretary concerned or the Inspector General for any purpose he determines to be proper, and such a determination is final and conclusive upon the accounting officers of the United States. The Secretary concerned or the Inspector General may certify the amount of any such expenditure authorized by him that he considers advisable not to specify, and his certificate is sufficient voucher for the expenditure of that amount. The authority to expend amounts made available for the Military Intelligence Program for intelligence and counterintelligence objects of a confidential, extraordinary, or emergency nature is provided by section 429a of this title instead of this section.

(b)The authority conferred by this section may be delegated by the Secretary of Defense to any person in the Department of Defense, by the Inspector General to any person in the Office of the Inspector General, or by the Secretary of a military department to any person within his department, with or without the authority to make successive redelegations.

(c)(1)Funds may not be obligated or expended in an amount in excess of $500,000 under the authority of subsection (a) or (b) until the Secretary of Defense has notified the congressional defense committees of the intent to obligate or expend the funds, and—

(A)in the case of an obligation or expenditure in excess of $1,000,000, 15 days have elapsed since the date of the notification; or

(B)in the case of an obligation or expenditure in excess of $500,000, but not in excess of $1,000,000, 5 days have elapsed since the date of the notification.

(2)Subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall not apply to an obligation or expenditure of funds otherwise covered by such subparagraph if the Secretary of Defense determines that the national security objectives of the United States will be compromised by the application of the subparagraph to the obligation or expenditure. If the Secretary makes a determination with respect to an obligation or expenditure under the preceding sentence, the Secretary shall immediately notify the committees referred to in paragraph (1) that such obligation or expenditure is necessary and provide any relevant information (in classified form, if necessary) jointly to the chairman and ranking minority member (or their designees) of such committees.

(3)A notification under paragraph (1) and information referred to in paragraph (2) shall include the amount to be obligated or expended, as the case may be, and the purpose of the obligation or expenditure.

(4)(A)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), funds may not be obligated or expended in an amount in excess of $100,000 under the authority of subsection (a) or (b) for intelligence or counter-intelligence activities until the Secretary of Defense has notified the congressional defense committees and the congressional intelligence committees of the intent to obligate or expend the funds and 15 days have elapsed since the date of the notification.

(B)The Secretary of Defense may waive subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that such a waiver is necessary due to extraordinary circumstances that affect the national security of the United States. If the Secretary issues a waiver under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense and congressional intelligence committees, by not later than 48 hours after issuing the waiver, written notice of and justification for the waiver.

(d)(1)Not later than December 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit—

(A)to the congressional defense committees a report on all expenditures during the preceding fiscal year under subsections (a) and (b); and

(B)to the congressional intelligence committees a report on expenditures relating to intelligence and counter-intelligence during the preceding fiscal year under subsections (a) and (b).

(2)Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include, for each individual expenditure covered by such report in an amount in excess of $100,000, the following:

(A)A detailed description of the purpose of such expenditure.

(B)The amount of such expenditure.

(C)An identification of the approving authority for such expenditure.

(D)A justification why other authorities available to the Department could not be used for such expenditure.

(E)Any other matters the Secretary considers appropriate.

(e)In this section, the term “congressional intelligence committees” means the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2024—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–159 inserted at end “The authority to expend amounts made available for the Military Intelligence Program for intelligence and counterintelligence objects of a confidential, extraordinary, or emergency nature is provided by section 429a of this title instead of this section.” 2019—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 116–92, § 1731(a)(5), inserted “the” before “congressional defense committees”. Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 116–92, § 1012, amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “Each report required to be submitted under paragraph (1) shall include a detailed explanation, by category of activity and approving authority (the Secretary of Defense, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, and the Secretary of a military department), of the expenditures during the preceding fiscal year.” 2017—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1081(a)(4), substituted “congressional defense committees” for “the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1041(a), added par. (4). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1041(b), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “submit—” for “submit to the congressional defense committees a report on expenditures during the preceding fiscal year under subsections (a) and (b).”, added subpars. (A) and (B) of par. (1), and added par. (2). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1041(c), added subsec. (e). 2003—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 108–136 amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows: “In any case in which funds are expended under the authority of subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report of such expenditures on a quarterly basis to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.” 1999—Subsecs. (c)(1), (d). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted “and the Committee on Armed Services” for “and the Committee on National Security”. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–106, § 915(2), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d). Pub. L. 104–106, § 1502(a)(5), substituted “Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on National Security and the Committee on Appropriations of” for “Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–106, § 915(1), redesignated subsec. (c), as amended by Pub. L. 104–106, §§ 1502(a)(5), 1506, as (d). 1994—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–337 struck out par. (1) designation before “In any case” and struck out par. (2) which read as follows: “The amount of funds expended by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense under subsections (a) and (b) during a fiscal year may not exceed $400,000.” 1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160, § 361(1), inserted “, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense,” after “the Secretary of Defense” and “or the Inspector General” after “the Secretary concerned” and after “The Secretary concerned”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–160, § 361(2), inserted “, by the Inspector General to any person in the Office of the Inspector General,” after “the Department of Defense”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–160, § 361(3), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). 1986—Pub. L. 99–433 renumbered section 140 of this title as this section and substituted “Emergency” for “Emergencies” in section catchline. 1983—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–94 struck out “of this section” after “subsection (c)”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98–94 struck out “of this section” after “subsections (a) and (b)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Construction

Authority of Secretary of Defense Under Declaration of War or National Emergency Pub. L. 97–99, title IX, § 903, Dec. 23, 1981, 95 Stat. 1382, which authorized the Secretary of Defense, in the event of a declaration of war or the declaration of a national emergency by the President, to undertake military

Construction

without regard to any other provisions of law, was repealed and restated as section 2808 of this title by Pub. L. 97–214, §§ 2(a), 7(18), July 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 157, 174, effective Oct. 1, 1982.

§127 Emergency and Extraordinary Expenses

Summary

Title 10, §127

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Construction

Construction

Citations & Metadata