41 U.S.C. § 50
Section 50 · Defense contractor defined
Amended 3 times on record
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.
As used in sections 49 and 50 of this title the term “defense contractor” means an employer engaged in—
(1) the production, maintenance, or storage of arms, armament, ammunition, implements of war, munitions, machinery, tools, clothing, food, fuel, or any articles or supplies, or parts or ingredients of any articles or supplies; or
(2) the construction, reconstruction, repair, or installation of a building, plant, structure, or facility;
under a contract with the United States or under any contract which the President, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of Transportation certifies to such employer to be necessary to the national defense.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1981—Pub. L. 97–31 substituted reference to Secretary of Transportation for reference to United States Maritime Commission.
Change of Name
Secretary of the Air Force inserted in text under authority of section 207(a), (f) of act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of such act July 26, 1947. Sections 205(a) and 207(a), (f) of act July 26, 1947 were repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted “Title 10, Armed Forces”, which in sections 3010 to 3013 and 8010 to 8013 continued Departments of the Army and Air Force under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Air Force, respectively.