10 U.S.C. § 2383
Section 2383 · Contractor performance of acquisition functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case United States v. Vertac Chemical Corp. (1995)
Most recently applied in United States v. Vertac Chemical Corp. (January 1995)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Limitation.—The head of an agency may enter into a contract for the performance of acquisition functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions only if the contracting officer for the contract ensures that—
(1) appropriate military or civilian personnel of the Department of Defense cannot reasonably be made available to perform the functions;
(2) appropriate military or civilian personnel of the Department of Defense are—
(A) to supervise contractor performance of the contract; and
(B) to perform all inherently governmental functions associated with the functions to be performed under the contract; and
(3) the agency addresses any potential organizational conflict of interest of the contractor in the performance of the functions under the contract, consistent with subpart 9.5 of part 9 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the best interests of the Department of Defense.
(b) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) The term “head of an agency” has the meaning given such term in section 2302(1) of this title, except that such term does not include the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(2) The term “inherently governmental functions” has the meaning given such term in subpart 7.5 of part 7 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(3) The term “functions closely associated with inherently governmental functions” means the functions described in section 7.503(d) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
(4) The term “organizational conflict of interest” has the meaning given such term in subpart 9.5 of part 9 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 2383, added Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title VIII, §805(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2010; amended Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title X, §1061(a)(13), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1473; Pub. L. 103–355, title II, §2401, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3324, related to quality control in procurement of critical aircraft and ship spare or repair parts, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title VIII, §803(a), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 390.
Another prior section 2383, act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 137, permitted Secretary of a military department to make emergency purchases of war material abroad, and provided that such material may be admitted free of duty, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 87–456, title III, §303(c), May 24, 1962, 76 Stat. 78.
Effective Date
Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title VIII, §804(b), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 2008, provided that: “Section 2383 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall apply to contracts entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 2004].”