§4308 General Provisions

Summary

The Secretary can make the rules needed to run the program covered by this chapter. If people follow those rules or orders from the Secretary, that counts as fully meeting their duty and they cannot be sued for actions done in good faith under the chapter. The Secretary can borrow or accept employees from other federal agencies, and can hire experts and 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 steps are not completed. Contracts for supplies or services must be advertised to allow competition unless advertising is impractical or the amount is $10,000 or less. The Secretary can ignore other procurement laws for these contracts and may judge bids based on things like quality, availability, and how well the supplies or services fit the program. Federal agencies can loan or transfer property to the Department of State or get support and services from it, with reimbursements credited to the agency’s accounts. Property used by or held for a foreign mission and controlled by the Department of State cannot be seized by attachment, execution, injunction, or similar court actions. Most choices required under the chapter are up to the Secretary’s judgment. The Secretary can move money into the working capital fund under section 2684 and credit revenues and gifts to that fund; only amounts in that fund may be used to run the chapter’s activities.