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Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§2364 Special Authorities

Title 22 › CHAPTER 32 — FOREIGN ASSISTANCE › SUBCHAPTER III — GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part I — General Provisions › § 2364

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The President can approve military help or arms sales, credits, and guarantees without following some other laws when he decides it is important or vital to U.S. security. He must tell in writing the Speaker of the House and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he does this. Before using this power, he must consult with and give a written policy explanation to the House Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees and the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees. In any one fiscal year, this authority cannot be used to approve more than $750,000,000 in arms sales, to spend more than $250,000,000 of funds under this law or the Arms Export Control Act, or to use more than $100,000,000 in foreign currencies. If funds are used to finance a sale, those funds count against the $250,000,000 limit and the rest of the sale counts against the $750,000,000 limit. No more than $50,000,000 of the $250,000,000 may go to any one country in a year unless that country is a victim of active aggression, and no more than $500,000,000 of the combined $1,000,000,000 limit may go to any one country in a year. This authority cannot be used to remove the transfer limits in section 2360(a). When the President decides it is important to U.S. interests, he may use funds for U.S. responsibilities in Germany, including West Berlin, and may set aside laws he thinks block that purpose. The President may also use up to $50,000,000 of funds when he certifies that it is inadvisable to say how the money will be used; that certification is enough to allow the spending, but he must fully inform the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before using the money.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §2364

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Furnishing of assistance and arms export sales, credits, and guaranties upon determination and notification of Congress of importance and vitality of such action to security interests and national security interests of United States; policy justification; fiscal year limitations; transfers between accounts
(1)The President may authorize the furnishing of assistance under this chapter without regard to any provision of this chapter, the Arms Export Control Act [22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.], any law relating to receipts and credits accruing to the United States, and any Act authorizing or appropriating funds for use under this chapter, in furtherance of any of the purposes of this chapter, when the President determines, and so notifies in writing the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, that to do so is important to the security interests of the United States.
(2)The President may make sales, extend credit, and issue guaranties under the Arms Export Control Act [22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.], without regard to any provision of this chapter, the Arms Export Control Act, any law relating to receipts and credits accruing to the United States, and any Act authorizing or appropriating funds for use under the Arms Export Control Act, in furtherance of any of the purposes of such Act, when the President determines, and so notifies in writing the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, that to do so is vital to the national security interests of the United States.
(3)Before exercising the authority granted in this subsection, the President shall consult with, and shall provide a written policy justification to, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(4)(A)The authority of this subsection may not be used in any fiscal year to authorize—
(i)more than $750,000,000 in sales to be made under the Arms Export Control Act [22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.];
(ii)the use of more than $250,000,000 of funds made available for use under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act; and
(iii)the use of more than $100,000,000 of foreign currencies accruing under this chapter or any other law.
(B)If the authority of this subsection is used both to authorize a sale under the Arms Export Control Act and to authorize funds to be used under the Arms Export Control Act or under this chapter with respect to the financing of that sale, then the use of the funds shall be counted against the limitation in subparagraph (A)(ii) and the portion, if any, of the sale which is not so financed shall be counted against the limitation in subparagraph (A)(i).
(C)Not more than $50,000,000 of the $250,000,000 limitation provided in subparagraph (A)(ii) may be allocated to any one country in any fiscal year unless that country is a victim of active aggression, and not more than $500,000,000 of the aggregate limitation of $1,000,000,000 provided in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (A)(ii) may be allocated to any one country in any fiscal year.
(5)The authority of this section may not be used to waive the limitations on transfers contained in section 2360(a) of this title.
(b)United States obligations in West Germany
Whenever the President determines it to be important to the national interest, he may use funds available for the purposes of part IV of subchapter I of this chapter in order to meet the responsibilities or objectives of the United States in Germany, including West Berlin, and without regard to such provisions of law as he determines should be disregarded to achieve this purpose.
(c)Certification by President of inadvisability to specify nature of use of funds; reports to Congress
The President is authorized to use amounts not to exceed $50,000,000 of the funds made available under this chapter pursuant to his certification that it is inadvisable to specify the nature of the use of such funds, which certification shall be deemed to be a sufficient voucher for such amounts. The President shall fully inform the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of each use of funds under this subsection prior to the use of such funds.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 87–195, Sept. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 424, known as the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2151 of this title and Tables. The Arms Export Control Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), (2), (4)(A), (B), is Pub. L. 90–629, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1320, which is classified principally to chapter 39 (§ 2751 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2751 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (a)(4)(C). Pub. L. 103–199 struck out “Communist or Communist-supported” after “victim of active”. 1989—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–222 amended second sentence generally. Prior to amendment, second sentence read as follows: “The President shall promptly and fully inform the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of each use of funds under this subsection.” 1985—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 99–83 designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), added cl. (i) and designations “(ii)” and “(iii)”, struck out fiscal year limitation for any one country, and added subpars. (B) and (C). 1980—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–533, in revising subsec. (a), incorporated part of existing first sentence in provisions designated par. (1), inserted reference to Arms Export Control Act, struck out reference to Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act of 1951, required notification of the Speaker of the House and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and substituted “security interests” for “security”; inserted pars. (2) and (3); incorporated part of existing first sentence, second sentence, and substance of third sentence in provisions designated par. (4) and inserted reference to the Arms Export Control Act; and designated fourth sentence as par. (5) and substituted therein “may not” for “shall not”. 1974—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–559 provided that the authority of the section shall not be used to waive the limitations on transfers contained in section 2360(a) of this title. 1967—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90–137 substituted “506” for “510”, classified to the Code as section 2318 of this title. 1966—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–583, § 301(f), provided that the $50,000,000 limitation on allocation of funds to any country in any one fiscal year shall not apply to any country which is a victim of active Communist or Communist-supported aggression. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–583, § 301(g), inserted provision for reports to Congress of use of funds under this subsec.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References to Part IV of Subchapter I Deemed References to Part IV of Subchapter IIPart IV of subchapter I (§ 2241 et seq.) of this chapter has been repealed. References to part IV of subchapter I, or any sections thereof, are deemed references to part IV of subchapter II (§ 2346 et seq.) of this chapter, or to appropriate sections thereof. See section 202(b) of Pub. L. 92–226, set out as a note under section 2346 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1985 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 99–83 effective Oct. 1, 1985, see section 1301 of Pub. L. 99–83, set out as a note under section 2151–1 of this title.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions For delegation of functions of President under this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 12163, Sept. 29, 1979, 44 F.R. 56673, as amended, set out as a note under section 2381 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 2364

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110