10 U.S.C. § 6327 — Enhanced procurement authority to manage supply chain risk
submitted 1 year ago by Pub. L. 119-60 to r/title-10-ARMED-FORCES · 1,007 words · no verdicts yet
The Secretary of Energy may exclude sources or take other covered procurement actions to reduce significant supply-chain risks to covered systems, but only after specified assessments, written findings, and congressional notice. The authority includes confidentiality and has a December 31, 2028 termination date.
(a) Authority. Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary may: (1) take a covered procurement action or special exclusion action; and (2) despite other law, limit all or part of disclosure about the basis for that action.
(b) Requirements. The Secretary may use this authority only after: (1) obtaining a risk assessment showing a significant supply-chain risk to a covered system; (2) making a written classified or unclassified finding that the authority is necessary to protect national security by reducing the risk, less restrictive measures are not reasonably available, and, if disclosure will be limited, disclosure’s national-security risk outweighs the risk of withholding it; and (3) within 7 days, sending the appropriate congressional committees a classified or unclassified notice containing the information required by section 3304(e)(2)(A) of title 41, a risk-assessment summary, and a summary of the finding’s basis, including considered less restrictive measures and why they were unavailable.
(c) Notifications. After using the authority, the Secretary must notify appropriate parties of the action and its basis only as needed to carry it out, notify other Federal procurement agencies that may face the same or similar risk in a way and to an extent consistent with national security, and keep both kinds of notification confidential.
(d) Review. No action under subsection (a) may be reviewed in a Federal court.
(e) Delegation. The Secretary may delegate this authority to the Administrator* for the Administration*, or to the Department’s Senior Procurement Executive for another Department component.
(f) Definitions. (1) “Appropriate congressional committees” means the congressional defense committees*, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (2) “Covered item of supply” means an item bought for inclusion in a covered system whose loss of integrity could create a supply-chain risk. (3) “Covered procurement” means: (A) source selection for a covered system or item using a supply-chain-risk performance specification or evaluation factor; (B) considering proposals and issuing a task or delivery order under section 4106(d)(3) of title 41 when the contract has a clause requiring consideration of supply-chain risk; or (C) any contract action for such a system or item when the contract has a supply-chain-risk clause. (4) “Covered procurement action” means, in conducting covered procurement: (A) excluding a source that fails qualification requirements under section 3311 of title 41 to reduce risk; (B) excluding a source that receives an unacceptable supply-chain-risk rating*; or (C) withholding consent for a contractor to subcontract with a source, or directing exclusion of a source from subcontract consideration. (5) “Covered system” means national security systems and components as defined in section 3552(b) of title 44; nuclear weapons and components; items associated with designing, developing, producing, or maintaining them; items associated with nuclear-stockpile surveillance; and items associated with designing and developing nonproliferation and counterproliferation programs and systems. (6) “Special exclusion action” means prohibiting, for no more than two years, contracts or subcontracts by the Administration or another Department component related to a covered system with a source the Secretary finds represents a supply-chain risk. (7) “Supply-chain risk” means the risk that an adversary will sabotage, maliciously add unwanted functions, or otherwise subvert the design, integrity, manufacture, production, distribution, installation, operation, or maintenance of a covered system or item so as to surveil, deny, disrupt, or degrade its function, use, or operation.
(g) Termination. This authority ends December 31, 2028.
Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Energy may—
carry out a covered procurement action or special exclusion action; and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, limit, in whole or in part, the disclosure of information relating to the basis for carrying out a covered procurement action or special exclusion action.
The Secretary may exercise the authority under subsection (a) only after—
obtaining a risk assessment that demonstrates that there is a significant supply chain risk to a covered system;
making a determination in writing, in unclassified or classified form, that—
the use of the authority under subsection (a) is necessary to protect national security by reducing supply chain risk;
less restrictive measures are not reasonably available to reduce the supply chain risk; and
in a case in which the Secretary plans to limit disclosure of information under subsection (a)(2), the risk to national security of the disclosure of the information outweighs the risk of not disclosing the information; and
submitting to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than seven days after the date on which the Secretary makes the determination under paragraph (2), a notice of such determination, in classified or unclassified form, that includes—
the information required by section 3304(e)(2)(A) of title 41;
a summary of the risk assessment required under paragraph (1); and
a summary of the basis for the determination, including a discussion of less restrictive measures that were considered and why such measures were not reasonably available to reduce supply chain risk.
If the Secretary has exercised the authority under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
notify appropriate parties of the covered procurement action or special exclusion action and the basis for the action only to the extent necessary to carry out the covered procurement action or special exclusion action;
notify other Federal agencies responsible for procurement that may be subject to the same or similar supply chain risk, in a manner and to the extent consistent with the requirements of national security; and
ensure the confidentiality of any notifications under paragraph (1) or (2).
No action taken by the Secretary under the authority under subsection (a) shall be subject to review in any Federal court.
The Secretary may delegate the authority under this section to—
in the case of the Administration*, the Administrator*; and
in the case of any other component of the Department of Energy, the Senior Procurement Executive of the Department.
In this section:
The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
the congressional defense committees*; and
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
The term “covered item of supply” means an item—
that is purchased for inclusion in a covered system; and
the loss of integrity of which could result in a supply chain risk for a covered system.
The term “covered procurement” means the following:
A source selection for a covered system or a covered item of supply involving either a performance specification, as described in subsection (a)(3)(B) of section 3306 of title 41, or an evaluation factor, as described in subsection (b)(1) of such section, relating to supply chain risk.
The consideration of proposals for and issuance of a task or delivery order for a covered system or a covered item of supply, as provided in section 4106(d)(3) of title 41, where the task or delivery order contract concerned includes a contract clause establishing a requirement relating to supply chain risk.
Any contract action involving a contract for a covered system or a covered item of supply if the contract includes a clause establishing requirements relating to supply chain risk.
The term “covered procurement action” means, with respect to an action that occurs in the course of conducting a covered procurement, any of the following:
The exclusion of a source that fails to meet qualification requirements established pursuant to section 3311 of title 41 for the purpose of reducing supply chain risk in the acquisition of covered systems.
The exclusion of a source that fails to achieve an acceptable rating* with regard to an evaluation factor providing for the consideration of supply chain risk in the evaluation of proposals for the award of a contract or the issuance of a task or delivery order.
The withholding of consent for a contractor to subcontract with a particular source or the direction to a contractor for a covered system to exclude a particular source from consideration for a subcontract under the contract.
The term “covered system” means the following:
National security systems (as defined in section 3552(b) of title 44) and components of such systems.
Nuclear weapons and components of nuclear weapons.
Items associated with the design, development, production, and maintenance of nuclear weapons or components of nuclear weapons.
Items associated with the surveillance of the nuclear weapon stockpile.
Items associated with the design and development of nonproliferation and counterproliferation programs and systems.
The term “special exclusion action” means an action to prohibit, for a period not to exceed two years, the award of any contracts or subcontracts by the Administration or any other component of the Department of Energy related to any covered system to a source the Secretary determines to represent a supply chain risk.
The term “supply chain risk” means the risk that an adversary may sabotage, maliciously introduce unwanted function, or otherwise subvert the design, integrity, manufacturing, production, distribution, installation, operation, or maintenance of a covered system or covered item of supply so as to surveil, deny, disrupt, or otherwise degrade the function, use, or operation of the system or item of supply.
The authority under this section shall terminate on December 31, 2028.
Source credit: (Added and amended Pub. L. 119–60, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111(a), (d)(2)(A), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1444, 1462.)
- 2025Enacted · Pub. L. 119-60 · 139 Stat. 1444, 1462
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 119-60 on 2025-12-18.
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