Executive Order 13433: Protecting American Taxpayers From Payment of Contingency Fees
President: George W. Bush
Barred federal agencies from new contingency-fee contracts for legal and expert services absent a legal requirement.
Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 13433 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 13433 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13433 do?
Agencies were to pay reasonable amounts set in advance, not based on litigation outcomes; new covered contingency-fee agreements needed an Attorney General finding that law required one. Agency heads had a 90-day notification duty. The U.S. Code prints the order as a note to 5 U.S.C. 3109, including its agency exclusions and statutory exception.
Before and after
Before the order
Federal agencies contracted for legal and expert-witness services under procurement and appropriations rules.
After the order
Agencies were to pay reasonable amounts set in advance, not based on litigation outcomes; new covered contingency-fee agreements needed an Attorney General finding that law required one. Agency heads had a 90-day notification duty.
The U.S. Code prints the order as a note to 5 U.S.C. 3109, including its agency exclusions and statutory exception.
What did the signed order change?
Federal agencies contracted for legal and expert-witness services under procurement and appropriations rules. Agencies were to pay reasonable amounts set in advance, not based on litigation outcomes; new covered contingency-fee agreements needed an Attorney General finding that law required one. Agency heads had a 90-day notification duty.
What happened later?
U.S. Code — 5 U.S.C. 3109 note: The U.S. Code prints the order as a note to 5 U.S.C. 3109, including its agency exclusions and statutory exception.
What does that evidence establish?
The order excludes GAO and intelligence-community elements and yields when an agreement is required by law. Its terms govern legal and expert-witness services to or on behalf of the United States. A codified note is not a count of avoided fees or an audit of agency compliance. Read the signed order for its original terms.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Federal agency heads and Attorney General | Apply advance fee criteria and review any legally required exception | Under the signed order and governing law |
What happened next
EO 13433 signed.
Signed order and follow-up evidence reviewed.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The order excludes GAO and intelligence-community elements and yields when an agreement is required by law. Its terms govern legal and expert-witness services to or on behalf of the United States.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- GovInfo — official executive-order record (opens in a new tab) Official record
- U.S. Code — 5 U.S.C. 3109 note (opens in a new tab) Official record
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 26, 2026. How we research →