Other statutory tools

Authority holder

Head of agency or major organizational unit

Eligibility gate

• Funds available; government best interest determination.
• Servicing agency can provide or obtain the requirement.
• Required determination that a commercial enterprise cannot provide the goods/services as conveniently or cheaply.

Funding condition

• Cost reimbursement; permitted advance payments adjusted to actual costs.

All recorded limits

• The receiving agency does not erase the original procurement restrictions.
• Unperformed/uncontracted portions must be deobligated as §1535(d) requires; cannot park expiring funds.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense and military department Secretaries; authorized component account managers

Eligibility gate

• An authorized reimbursable service or supply transaction; credit only authorized accounts.

Funding condition

• Credited funds have the availability period of the credited account.

All recorded limits

• Not a general exception permitting retention of every receipt.
• Does not itself authorize an otherwise prohibited underlying activity.

Authority holder

Military department Secretaries; Secretary of Defense approves operation accounts

Eligibility gate

• Operation financed by at least two appropriations with initially undistributable costs.
• Every obligation must be chargeable to an available appropriation; prompt reimbursement.

Funding condition

• Statutorily established management funds; lawful advances/reimbursements, not new budget authority.

All recorded limits

• Not unrestricted pooled investment capital.
• Estimated costs require adjustment; advances normally obligable only in the year advanced.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense, with OMB approval under §8005

Eligibility gate

• Applicable transfer grant must cover the source, destination, fiscal period, and amount.
• Higher-priority unforeseen military requirement; no transfer to an item Congress denied.

Funding condition

• Source appropriation availability and current annual/CR authority must be checked; no automatic pooled defense budget.

All recorded limits

• §2214 supplies conditions, not an unlimited independent transfer grant.
• FY2026 §8005 ceiling is $6 billion, with specified exclusions; not a current available-balance statement.
• FY2026 §8005 also sets a June 30, 2026 multiple-reprogramming-request deadline. Continued or modified application under the FY2027 CR requires fiscal review; $6 billion is not certified FY2027 transfer headroom. CR new-start/rate restrictions remain unless an exception applies.

Authority holder

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; eligible requesting combatant commanders

Eligibility gate

• Activity must fit §166a(b) and priority/limitation provisions.
• Specific fund appropriations must be available.

Funding condition

• Initiative Fund, in addition to other lawfully available activity funding.

All recorded limits

• Not general authority to capitalize firms, ignore procurement rules, or fund an activity denied authorization by Congress.
• Statute limits categories including higher-unit-cost purchases, foreign exercise expenses, and foreign training.

Authority holder

Secretary concerned

Eligibility gate

• Qualifying institution/organization or wounded/injured/ill personnel, dependents, or survivors under the applicable subsection.
• Donor terms must be lawful and preserve impartiality/integrity.

Funding condition

• Money/proceeds deposited in designated gift funds; use subject to statutory purposes and donor terms.

All recorded limits

• Not a general private sponsorship exception to program limits.
• Services authority is purpose-specific; foreign-government/international-organization service gifts restricted under §2601(b).

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

Eligibility gate

• Required donor-condition notifications, reporting, and accounting.
• Subsequent appropriations required before account money is obligated or spent.

Funding condition

• Contributed money and sale proceeds enter the Defense Cooperation Account.

All recorded limits

• Acceptance is not equivalent to spending authority.
• Property use cannot defeat an otherwise applicable prohibition.
• Permitted account investment is in U.S. or U.S.-guaranteed securities through Treasury—not unrestricted corporate equities.

Authority holder

Agency head, subject to applicable law

Eligibility gate

• Fair charge and legally cognizable service/benefit; account for applicable specific fee statutes.

Funding condition

• Treasury deposit unless a specific retention statute applies.

All recorded limits

• General fee authority is not a power to tax the industrial base.
• Collecting a fee does not establish a right to retain and reinvest the receipts.

Authority holder

Secretary concerned or authorized claims official; Attorney General approval/delegation where applicable

Eligibility gate

• Applicable claims statute, facts, filing period, settlement delegation, and payment source.

Funding condition

• Statute-specific payment and judgment-fund rules; no generic program discretion.

All recorded limits

• §2733 has a $100,000 ordinary payment ceiling with a separate excess-claim referral route; narrower delegations exist.
• Not a general business-loss bailout or voluntary commercial indemnity.
• FTCA exceptions and statutory exclusions require separate case review.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

Eligibility gate

• Common supply/service activity and more effective, economical, or efficient performance.
• Assign supervision and conduct statutory budget/efficiency and combat-support reviews as applicable.

Funding condition

• Authorized component budgets and legal resource transfers remain necessary.

All recorded limits

• Creating an organization does not create new substantive economic powers or funding.
• Special protections/requirements exist for named agencies, termination, and intelligence organizations.

Authority holder

Office of Expanded Competition within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force; headed by the OEC Director

Eligibility gate

• The activity must assist the Secretary of Defense with the function assigned by §9025(c)(8).
• Resolve the specific implementation, lawful instrument, funding and approval requirements for the proposed activity.

Funding condition

• §9025 does not specify a dedicated appropriation or available balance. Identify legally available funds and the fiscal conditions of the proposed action.

All recorded limits

• This brief duty does not by itself establish an unrestricted intelligence, covert-action or commercial-transaction authority.

Authority holder

Office of Expanded Competition within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force; headed by the OEC Director

Eligibility gate

• Work with other DoD or Federal components toward national-security purposes.
• Preserve each participating component's authority and funding controls.

Funding condition

• §9025 does not specify a dedicated appropriation or available balance. Identify legally available funds and the fiscal conditions of the proposed action.

All recorded limits

• Coordination is not authority to transfer another agency's funds or exercise its powers without an applicable legal basis.