§1702 — Title 41 Public Contracts | U.S. Code

Summary

Each executive agency (except the Department of Defense) that has a Chief Financial Officer must pick a non-career employee to be the agency’s Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO). The CAO’s main job is to run and improve how the agency buys goods and services. The CAO must advise the agency head and other officials so buying supports the agency’s mission. The CAO watches and measures acquisition programs, suggests business strategies, promotes open competition so the agency gets enough bids or proposals to get the best value, and increases use of performance-based contracts. The CAO must make decisions that follow the law, set clear authority for buying decisions, lead agency acquisition policy, check that contracts for overseas contingency operations follow relevant rules, build a professional acquisition workforce, and as part of agency planning assess needed skills, create hiring and training plans, and report progress to the agency head. The agency must also name a senior procurement executive; if there is a CAO, that person must either be the senior procurement executive or have the senior procurement executive report directly to them. "Overseas contingency operations" means military actions outside the United States and its territories that meet the legal definition of a contingency operation.

Title 41, §1702

Public Contracts — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The head of each executive agency described in section 901(b)(1) (other than the Department of Defense) or 901(b)(2)(C) of title 31 with a Chief Financial Officer appointed or designated under section 901(a) of title 31 shall appoint or designate a non-career employee as Chief Acquisition Officer for the agency.

(b)(1)The primary duty of a Chief Acquisition Officer is acquisition management.

(2)A Chief Acquisition Officer shall advise and assist the head of the executive agency and other agency officials to ensure that the mission of the executive agency is achieved through the management of the agency’s acquisition activities.

(3)The functions of each Chief Acquisition Officer include—

(A)monitoring the performance of acquisition activities and acquisition programs of the executive agency, evaluating the performance of those programs on the basis of applicable performance measurements, and advising the head of the executive agency regarding the appropriate business strategy to achieve the mission of the executive agency;

(B)increasing the use of full and open competition in the acquisition of property and services by the executive agency by establishing policies, procedures, and practices that ensure that the executive agency receives a sufficient number of sealed bids or competitive proposals from responsible sources to fulfill the Federal Government’s requirements (including performance and delivery schedules) at the lowest cost or best value considering the nature of the property or service procured;

(C)increasing appropriate use of performance-based contracting and performance specifications;

(D)making acquisition decisions consistent with all applicable laws and establishing clear lines of authority, accountability, and responsibility for acquisition decisionmaking within the executive agency;

(E)managing the direction of acquisition policy for the executive agency, including implementation of the unique acquisition policies, regulations, and standards of the executive agency;

(F)advising the executive agency on the applicability of relevant policy on the contracts of the agency for overseas contingency operations and ensuring the compliance of the contracts and contracting activities of the agency with such policy;

(G)developing and maintaining an acquisition career management program in the executive agency to ensure that there is an adequate professional workforce; and

(H)as part of the strategic planning and performance evaluation process required under section 306 of title 5 and section 1105(a)(28), 1115, 1116, and 9703 (added by section 5(a) of Public Law 103–62 (107 Stat. 289)) of title 31—

(i)assessing the requirements established for agency personnel regarding knowledge and skill in acquisition resources management and the adequacy of those requirements for facilitating the achievement of the performance goals established for acquisition management;

(ii)developing strategies and specific plans for hiring, training, and professional development to rectify a deficiency in meeting those requirements; and

(iii)reporting to the head of the executive agency on the progress made in improving acquisition management capability.

(c)(1)The head of each executive agency shall designate a senior procurement executive.

(2)The senior procurement executive is responsible for management direction of the procurement system of the executive agency, including implementation of the unique procurement policies, regulations, and standards of the executive agency.

(3)For an executive agency for which a Chief Acquisition Officer has been appointed or designated under subsection (a), the head of the executive agency shall—

(A)designate the Chief Acquisition Officer as the senior procurement executive for the executive agency; or

(B)ensure that the senior procurement executive designated under paragraph (1) reports directly to the Chief Acquisition Officer without intervening authority.

(d)In this section, the term “overseas contingency operations” means military operations outside the United States and its territories and possessions that are a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 1702(a), (b)(1), (2)41:414(a).Pub. L. 93–400, § 16, as added Pub. L. 98–191, § 7, Dec. 1, 1983, 97 Stat. 1330; Pub. L. 98–369, title VII, § 2732(b)(2), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1199; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title XIV, § 1421(a)(1), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1666. 1702(b)(3)41:414(b). 1702(c)41:414(c).

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2013—Subsec. (b)(3)(F) to (H). Pub. L. 112–239, § 849(a), added subpar. (F) and redesignated former subpars. (F) and (G) as (G) and (H), respectively. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–239, § 849(b), added subsec. (d).

§1702 Chief Acquisition Officers and Senior Procurement Executives