10 U.S.C. § 140
Section 140 · General Counsel
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Newport Aeronautical Sales v. Department of the Air Force (2012)
Most recently applied in Newport Aeronautical Sales v. Department of the Air Force (July 2012)
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) There is a General Counsel of the Department of Defense, appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(b) The General Counsel is the chief legal officer of the Department of Defense. He shall perform such functions as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
In subsection (b), the words “from time to time” are omitted as surplusage.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 140 was renumbered section 141 of this title.
Another prior section 140 was renumbered section 127 of this title.
Amendments
1993—Pub. L. 103–160 renumbered section 139 of this title as this section.
1986—Pub. L. 99–433, §§101(a)(7), 110(d)(11), renumbered section 137 of this title as this section, and struck out “: powers and duties” at end of section catchline.
1964—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 88–426 repealed subsec. (c) which related to compensation of General Counsel. See section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Effective Date of 1964 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 88–426, see section 501 of Pub. L. 88–426.
Order of Succession
For order of succession in event of death, disability, or resignation of Secretary, see Ex. Ord. No. 12787, Dec. 31, 1991, 57 F.R. 517, set out as a note under section 3347 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Cross References
Compensation of General Counsel, see section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.