EconDefense
ACQ-26 / Workforce and expertise

Recruit eminent experts with special appointment and pay flexibility

Specified labs and agencies can appoint eminent scientific/engineering experts and, at OSC, finance/investment experts using tailored appointment, compensation and term rules.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-26 · People & expertise
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §4092

Authority holder: Named officials: Secretary of Defense for designated labs; DARPA, DOT&E, SCO, DIU, NGA, SDA, USCYBERCOM, USD(R&E), OSC leaders

People & expertise

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Only listed organizations/fields, position counts and compensation rules.
  • Normal term 4 years; specified extension up to 2 years when statutory conditions met.

Limits & exclusions

  • Not a general DoD exception for hiring any consultant.
  • SDA provision sunsets 2030-12-31; joint-AI paragraph(a)(6) shows expired 2024-12-31 in audited baseline and is not represented as current.

Funding conditions

  • Organization budget must cover compensation; elevated statutory pay ceiling is not salary authorization for every position.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Named organization’s director and technical leadership

Resources

  • Organization personnel budget

Approval

  • Named statutory program official

Execution

  • Organization HR and appointment authority

Partners & review

  • Specialist candidates; Service/component personnel and ethics offices

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Eligible director identifies expert role → HR validates statutory slots/term/pay → fiscal and ethics checks → appointment.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §4092Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation. FY26 amendment search found no extension of the expired joint-AI subauthority; verify before any reliance.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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