who has the legal authority to bind the us government on a us government contract
Federal Acquisition Regulation
title: Government procurement in the United States text: law, an agency's authority to contract is vested in the agency head, for example, the Secretary of the Air Force or the Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Agency heads delegate their authority to Contracting Officers, who either hold their authority by virtue of their position or must be appointed in accordance with procedures set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Only Contracting Officers may sign Government contracts on behalf of the Government. 48 CFR § 1.601. A Contracting Officer has only the authority delegated pursuant to law and agency procedures. This authority is set forth in the Contracting Officer's title: Government procurement in the United States text: of those authorities. The Federal Government's power to contract is not set forth expressly and specifically in the U.S. Constitution. However, the U.S. Constitution appears to assume the continued vitality "Engagements" entered into under the Articles of Confederation. U.S. Const., Art. VI. Moreover, the power to contract was and is regarded at law as necessarily incidental to the Federal Government's execution of its other powers. An early Supreme Court case, "United States v. Thomas Tingey", 30 U.S. 5 Pet. 115 (1831), recognized that the United States Government has a right to enter into a contract. It is an incident to title: Federal law text: Russia, the former Soviet Union and the United States. The United States Constitution provides for a federal government that is superior to state governments with regard to its enumerated powers. These powers include the authority to govern international affairs, interstate commerce, the currency and national defense. After the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment applied the Constitution's Bill of Rights to state governments. Legislation passed by Congress, an Executive Order of the President, or a decision of federal courts pursuant to the Constitution are federal law. Through the system of checks and balances, it is the Supreme Court makes final title: Government procurement in the United States text: the agent is usually allowed to form a contract only with reference to accepted notions of commercial reasonableness and perhaps a few unique statutes that apply. In Federal Government contracting, specific regulatory authority is required for the Government's agent to enter into the contract, and that agent's bargaining authority is strictly controlled by statutes and regulations reflecting national policy choices and prudential limitations on the right of Federal employees to obligate Federal funds. By contrast, in commercial contracting, the law allows each side to rely on the other's authority to make a binding contract on mutually agreeable terms. The authority title: President of the United States text: Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. The constitution also empowers the President to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries. Such agreements become, upon receiving the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate (by a two-thirds majority vote), become binding with the force of federal law. The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military.