25 U.S.C. § 1a — Delegation of powers and duties by Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs

This section lets the Secretary of the Interior share some of the work of administering Indian affairs laws. The stated goal is to make administering those laws easier and simpler. The Secretary can delegate — meaning hand off — powers and duties under Indian affairs laws to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The Secretary decides how much to delegate and can set regulations controlling it. But this power only covers "action in individual cases" — meaning decisions about specific people or situations — that arise under general regulations the Secretary already created. The Commissioner can do the same thing, but only under the Secretary's supervision and direction. The Commissioner may delegate powers already given by the Secretary, or powers the Commissioner has directly under other laws, to assistant commissioners or to the officer in charge of any branch, division, office, or agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Just like the Secretary's delegations, this only covers individual case decisions made under general regulations from the Secretary or the Commissioner. Anyone affected by a decision made under one of these delegated powers can appeal it. The appeal goes to the Secretary, following rules the Secretary sets. Or, based on what the Secretary decides, the appeal can go to the Deputy Secretary, an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs instead. The Secretary or the Commissioner can cancel — "revoke" — all or part of a delegation at any time. But a cancellation cannot be applied retroactively; it only affects things going forward. This section does not take away any other delegation power that other laws already give. It also does not give anyone the power to delegate the job of writing regulations.