US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

7 U.S.C. § 6912

Authority of Secretary to delegate transferred functions

(a)

Delegation of authority

(1)

Delegation authorized

1

1 See References in Text note below.
Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary may delegate to any agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department the authority to perform any function transferred to the Secretary under section 6911(a)  of this title or any other function vested in the Secretary as of . The authority provided in the preceding sentence includes the authority to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue any agency, office, or other administrative unit of the Department.

(2)

Condition on authority

The delegation authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be subject to—
(A)
section 6981 of this title sections 6942, 6971(f), 6993, and 2204e of this title and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of ;
(B)
sections 5692 and 5693 of this title; and
(C)
section 590h(b)(5) of title 16 .
(b)

Cost-benefit analysis required for name change

(1)

Analysis required

Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct a cost-benefit analysis before changing the name of any agency, office, division, or other unit of the Department to ensure that the benefits to be derived from changing the name of the agency, office, division, or other unit outweigh the expense of executing the name change.

(2)

Exception

Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to any name change required or authorized by this chapter.

(c)

Public comment on proposed reorganization

To the extent that the implementation of the authority provided to the Secretary by this chapter to reorganize the Department involves the creation of new agencies or offices within the Department or the delegation of major functions or major groups of functions to any agency or office of the Department (or the officers or employees of such agency or office), the Secretary shall, to the extent considered practicable by the Secretary—
(1)
give appropriate advance public notice of the proposed reorganization action or delegation; and
(2)
afford appropriate opportunity for interested parties to comment on the proposed reorganization action or delegation.
(d)

Interagency transfer of records, property, personnel, and funds

(1)

Related transfers

Subject to paragraph (2), as part of the transfer or delegation of a function of the Department made or authorized by this chapter, the Secretary may transfer within the Department—
(A)
any of the records, property, or personnel affected by the transfer or delegation of the function; and
(B)
unexpended balances (available or to be made available for use in connection with the transferred or delegated function) of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of the Department.
(2)

Applicable law relating to funds transfer

Section 1531 of title 31 shall apply to any transfer of funds under paragraph (1).

(e)

Exhaustion of administrative appeals

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall exhaust all administrative appeal procedures established by the Secretary or required by law before the person may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against—
(1)
the Secretary;
(2)
the Department; or
(3)
an agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department.

Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 212108 Stat. 3210Pub. L. 110–234, title VII, § 7511(c)(27)122 Stat. 1270Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a)122 Stat. 1664(, , ; , , ; , title VII, § 7511(c)(27), , , 2031.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Section 6911 of this titlePub. L. 115–334, title XII, § 12414(a)(1)132 Stat. 4981, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was repealed by , , .

Pub. L. 103–354108 Stat. 3209section 6901 of this titleThis chapter, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2), (c), and (d)(1), was in the original “this title”, meaning title II of , , , known as the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994. For complete classification of title II to the Code, see Short Title note set out under and Tables.

Codification

Pub. L. 110–234Pub. L. 110–246Pub. L. 110–234section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246 and made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by were repealed by .

Amendments

Pub. L. 110–246, § 7511(c)(27)2008—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). , substituted “6971(f),” for “6971(d),”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Pub. L. 110–234Pub. L. 110–246Pub. L. 110–234section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246section 8701 of this titleAmendment of this section and repeal of by effective , the date of enactment of , except as otherwise provided, see , set out as an Effective Date note under .

section 7511(c)(27) of Pub. L. 110–246section 7511(c) of Pub. L. 110–246section 1522 of this titleAmendment by effective , see , set out as a note under .