View all text of Chapter 34 [§ 2501 - § 2523]
§ 2509. Presidential powers and authorities
(a) Contract authority; assignment of volunteers; acceptance of voluntary services and gifts and transfers of property; personal service contractsIn furtherance of the purposes of this chapter, the President may—
(1) enter into, perform, and modify contracts and agreements and otherwise cooperate with any agency of the United States Government or of any State or any subdivision thereof, other governments and departments and agencies thereof, and educational institutions, voluntary agencies, farm organizations, labor unions, and other organizations, individuals and firms;
(2) assign volunteers in special cases to temporary duty with international organizations and agencies when the Secretary of State determines that such assignment would serve the purposes of this chapter;
(3) assign volunteers to duty or otherwise make them available to any entity referred to in paragraph (1), in order to assist such organizations and agencies in providing development or other relief assistance to displaced persons and refugees in any country, if the government of the country agrees to such assignment;
(4) accept in the name of the Peace Corps and employ or transfer in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter (A) voluntary services notwithstanding the provisions of section 1342 of title 31, and (B) any money or property (real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible) received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise; and
(5) contract with individuals for personal services abroad, and with aliens (abroad or within the United States) for personal services within the United States: Provided, That no such person shall be deemed an officer or employee or otherwise in the service or employment of the United States Government for the purposes of any law administered by the Office of Personnel Management (except that the President may determine the applicability to such individuals of provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.)).
(b) Claim settlements
(c) Five-year contract authority
(d) Waiver of certain Federal laws
(e) Allocation of funds
(f) Utilization of other Government agency services and facilities
(g) Reimbursement for commodities, services, and facilities
(h) Hospitalization and medical treatment for Foreign Service local employees
(i) Procurement of legal services
(j) Malpractice protection
(k) Opening or closing overseas offices and country programs
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Director of the Peace Corps may not open, close, significantly reduce, or suspend a domestic or overseas office or country program unless the Director has notified and consulted with the appropriate congressional committees at least 15 days in advance.
(2) The Director of the Peace Corps may waive the application of paragraph (1) for a period of not more than 5 days after an action described in such paragraph if the Director determines such action is necessary to ameliorate a substantial security risk to Peace Corps volunteers or other Peace Corps personnel.
(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(Pub. L. 87–293, title I, § 10, Sept. 22, 1961, 75 Stat. 617; Pub. L. 88–200, § 5, Dec. 13, 1963, 77 Stat. 360; Pub. L. 89–134, § 6, Aug. 24, 1965, 79 Stat. 551; Pub. L. 89–572, § 6, Sept. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 765; Pub. L. 93–49, § 2, June 25, 1973, 87 Stat. 99; Pub. L. 95–331, § 5(a), (c), Aug. 2, 1978, 92 Stat. 414, 415; Pub. L. 97–113, title VI, § 604(a), Dec. 29, 1981, 95 Stat. 1543; Pub. L. 103–236, title VI, § 602, Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 491; Pub. L. 106–30, § 2(b)(4), May 21, 1999, 113 Stat. 56; Pub. L. 112–57, § 5(2), Nov. 21, 2011, 125 Stat. 744; Pub. L. 115–256, title II, § 203, Oct. 9, 2018, 132 Stat. 3655.)