Title 10 vs Title 50
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Title 10 vs Title 50 refers to the U.S. legal-code distinction governing which categories of armed action fall under military authority and which fall under intelligence authority. "Title 10, Title 50, one's military, one's CIA." In practice, Title 10 governs Department of Defense operations and Title 50 governs the Central Intelligence Agency's covert action authorities. The distinction is the operative legal frame for any question about the lawful use of contractors in agency paramilitary work.

The unsettled contractor question

Prior to 2025, whether contractors operating under Blackwater-style arrangements with the CIA could lawfully perform armed action, including killing, in the agency's name was a question that "never been tried before." The agency held a Title 50 authority under Executive Order 12333 to kill individuals deemed a "clear and present danger" to the United States, but the question of whether that authority traveled to contractors of the agency was untested.

Ninth Circuit resolution (2025)

In approximately July 2025, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the question in a case in which Abu Zubaydah was the plaintiff. The court held that contractors are legally protected when acting under a written CIA contract, "so long as they have a written contract, they are acting on behalf of the CIA and the CIA has presidential authority to carry out these operations." Kiriakou received a call from an attorney involved in the case observing that the ruling had been largely ignored by U.S. media.

See also

- Ninth Circuit contractor ruling (2025)
- Executive Order 12333
- Blackwater
- Special Activities Division
