USG Title 10 and Title 50 – Chain of Command & Clandestine vs. Covert – a very gray area
I think Sydney Powell mentioned Title 50 – cannot find the post
Titles 10 and 50 define the specific duties of the Secretary of Defense (42) and Title 50 the CIA director's.
To this point, the CIA and the DOD followed separate independent paths as defined by statutes contained in Title 10 (DOD authorities) and Title 50 (Intelligence agency authorities). Lawyers for both Titles within the respective DOD and CIA bureaucracies, fought to preserve their interpretations of applications, to prevent one department from intruding into the territory of the other.
Title 10 is the broad statute regarding what DOD is authorized to do. This includes Clandestine operations, but not those which are Covert. To lawyers, this is a distinction with a difference. To operators—not so much. Failed Clandestine operations, usually result in some form of USG explanation. Covert operations are shrouded in plausible deniability. In sum, Uniforms do Clandestine, Civvies do Covert. Parsing one from the other can be quite difficult and largely determined by the location and nature of the target.
https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/birth-field-operations-group-later-intelligence-support-activity-secret-army-northern
https://www.americansecurityproject.org/fact-sheet-u-s-c-title-10-title-22-and-title-50/
https://www.scribd.com/document/101956577/U-S-C-Title-10-Title-22-And-Title-50
This article focuses on the risks associated with both using military personnel to conduct kinetic covert action and using them without a military chain of command. Those risks inform the recommendation to change practice, but not the law. Specifically, the author rejects melding distinct operational military (Title 10) and intelligence (Title 50) authorities into the often mentioned Title 60. Properly classifying actionseither under the statute as a covert action or exempted from the statute as a traditional military activityensures the correct command structure is in place. (8) Ultimately, the analysis argues for revisiting the previously rejected 9/11 Commission recommendation to place paramilitary covert action under DOD control. (9)
Titles 10 and 50 define the specific duties of the Secretary of Defense (42) and Title 50 the CIA director's. (43) The duties are neither identical nor interchangeable. In Title 50, Congress explicitly states that DOD shall function "under the direction, authority, and control of the Secretary of Defense" in order to "provide for their unified direction under civilian control." (44) Placing the Services under the Secretary of Defense is necessary to "provide for the establishment of [a] clear and direct line of command." (45) Congress is equally clear in Title 10, granting the Secretary complete authority over DOD: "there shall be a Secretary of Defense, who is the head of the [Department], appointed … by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." (46) The statute allows the Secretary to "perform any of his functions or duties, or [to] exercise any of his powers through" other persons, but only persons from within DOD. (47)
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Covert+action%3a+title+10%2c+title+50%2c+and+the+chain+of+command.-a0328945065
Demystifying the Title 10-Title 50 Debate: Distinguishing Military Operations, Intelligence Activities & Covert Action
“The President’s authority to direct military operations and intelligence activities against external threats resides in his Constitutional executive and commander-in-chief powers.21 The President is vested with Harvard National Security Journal / Vol. 395executive power22and is the “sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations—a power which does not require as a basis for its exercise an act of Congress.”23 As chief executive, the President may “manage the business of intelligence in such a manner as prudence may dictate.”24This includes the authority to secretly collect intelligence for reasons of national security.25As commander in chief, the President may employ the military to protect the national interests of the UnitedStates as he deems necessary.2”
https://www.soc.mil/528th/PDFs/Title10Title50.pdf