(a) Delegation of authority

(1) Delegation authorized
Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary may delegate to any agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department the authority to perform any function transferred to the Secretary under section 6911(a) ¹ of this title or any other function vested in the Secretary as of October 13, 1994. The authority provided in the preceding sentence includes the authority to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue any agency, office, or other administrative unit of the Department.

(2) Condition on authority
The delegation authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be subject to—

(A) sections 6942, 6971(f), 6993, and 2204e of this title and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of section 6981 of this title;

(B) sections 5692 and 5693 of this title; and

(C) section 590h(b)(5) of title 16.

(b) Cost-benefit analysis required for name change

(1) Analysis required
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct a cost-benefit analysis before changing the name of any agency, office, division, or other unit of the Department to ensure that the benefits to be derived from changing the name of the agency, office, division, or other unit outweigh the expense of executing the name change.

(2) Exception
Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to any name change required or authorized by this chapter.

(c) Public comment on proposed reorganization
To the extent that the implementation of the authority provided to the Secretary by this chapter to reorganize the Department involves the creation of new agencies or offices within the Department or the delegation of major functions or major groups of functions to any agency or office of the Department (or the officers or employees of such agency or office), the Secretary shall, to the extent considered practicable by the Secretary—

(1) give appropriate advance public notice of the proposed reorganization action or delegation; and

(2) afford appropriate opportunity for interested parties to comment on the proposed reorganization action or delegation.

(d) Interagency transfer of records, property, personnel, and funds

(1) Related transfers
Subject to paragraph (2), as part of the transfer or delegation of a function of the Department made or authorized by this chapter, the Secretary may transfer within the Department—

(A) any of the records, property, or personnel affected by the transfer or delegation of the function; and

(B) unexpended balances (available or to be made available for use in connection with the transferred or delegated function) of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of the Department.

(2) Applicable law relating to funds transfer
Section 1531 of title 31 shall apply to any transfer of funds under paragraph (1).

(e) Exhaustion of administrative appeals
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall exhaust all administrative appeal procedures established by the Secretary or required by law before the person may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction against—

(1) the Secretary;

(2) the Department; or

(3) an agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department.