13 U.S.C. § 4
Section 4 · Functions of Secretary; regulations; delegation
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 547 court decisions — leading case Borough of Bethel Park v. Stans (1971)
Most recently applied in Wudi Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. v. Wai Wong (July 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 12 U.S.C. § 4 · 4 U.S.C. § 4 · 9 U.S.C. § 4
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.
The Secretary shall perform the functions and duties imposed upon him by this title, may issue such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out such functions and duties, and may delegate the performance of such functions and duties and the authority to issue such rules and regulations to such officers and employees of the Department of Commerce as he may designate.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Section is new, and was inserted to conform with 1950 Reorganization Plan No. 5, effective May 24, 1950, §§1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, which is set out as a note under section 591 of title 5, U. S. C., 1952 ed., Executive Departments and Government Officers and Employees [now set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees]. That plan transferred all functions (with a few exceptions not applicable to the Census Bureau) of all agencies, officers and employees of the Department of Commerce to the Secretary of Commerce, and vested power in him to delegate the functions so transferred, or any of his other functions, to such agencies, officers or employees within the Department as he designates.
See, also, section 253 of title 13, U.S.C., 1952 ed., which provided for delegation of functions in connection with the quinquennial censuses of governments, and authorized the Secretary to promulgate rules and regulations with respect to such censuses. That section has been omitted from this revised title, as the provision thereof for delegation of functions is covered by this section, and the provision thereof which related to rules and regulations is covered by section 22 of title 1, U.S.C., 1952 ed., General Provisions.
Because of the transfer effected by 1950 Reorganization Plan No. 5, referred to above, sections of title 13, U.S.C., 1952 ed., which prescribed functions of the Bureau of the Census, the Census Office, or the Director of the Census, have, in this revised title, been changed to refer to the Secretary.
Amendments
1976—Pub. L. 94–521 inserted “regulations;” in section catchline, authorized the Secretary to issue such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the functions and duties imposed upon him by this title, authorized delegation of authority to issue such rules and regulations to officers and employees of the Department of Commerce, and struck out a provision which allowed delegation of performance of such functions and duties to bureaus and agencies of the Department of Commerce.
Effective Date of 1976 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 94–521 effective Oct. 17, 1976, see section 17 of Pub. L. 94–521, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.
Cross References
Collection and publication of foreign commerce and trade statistics, applicability of section to, see section 307 of this title.