Delegation of Authority Under Section 506(a)(1) and Section 614(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

This memorandum delegates presidential authority to the Secretary of State to provide immediate military assistance to Ukraine, including up to $250 million in assistance without regard to certain legal restrictions and up to $350 million in Defense Department drawdown of defense articles, services, and military training. The delegation was issued on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Federal Register Open PDF 87 FR 14755

Impact dates

Mar 14, 2022
Federal Register filing
Feb 25, 2022
Immediate military assistance to Ukraine

Key directives

Delegate to Secretary of State authority under 614(a)(1) of FAA for up to $250M assistance without regard to certain legal provisions
Delegate to Secretary of State authority under 506(a)(1) of FAA for up to $350M DOD drawdown of defense articles, services, and military education/training
Subject delegation to fulfilling requirements of section 614(a)(3) and section 652 of FAA
Direct publication in Federal Register

Who is ordered

Secretary of State · Department of State

Timeline

Immediate

Delegation of authority to Secretary of State takes effect
Authority to direct $350M DOD drawdown and $250M assistance activated

Near term (90d)

Potential execution of drawdown and assistance disbursement

Long term

Precedent for presidential delegation of emergency military assistance authorities

Risks & tensions

Delegation bypasses normal congressional appropriations processes under emergency authorities
$600M total represents significant early commitment; scale of subsequent aid packages would far exceed this
Section 614(a)(1) waiver authority allows overriding 'any provision of law' — broad but not unlimited
Text is vague on whether Secretary must make fresh determinations or operates under presidential determination already implied