---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 321"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "321"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/321"
units:
  - "Part I — The Agencies Generally"
  - "Chapter 3 — Powers"
  - "Subchapter III — Federal Government Service Delivery"
---

# §321. Definitions


In this subchapter:

- (1) **Agency.—** The term “[agency](/usc/5/311.md?p=1)” has the meaning given that term in [section 3502 of title 44](/usc/44/3502.md).
- (2) **Director.—** The term “[Director](/usc/5/311.md?p=2)” means the [Director](/usc/5/311.md?p=2) of the [Office](/usc/5/401.md?p=5) of Management and Budget.
- (3) **Government service delivery.—** The term “Government service delivery” means any action by an [agency](/usc/5/311.md?p=1) related to providing a benefit or service to an individual, business, or organization (such as a grantee or [State](/usc/5/311.md?p=5), local, or Tribal entity), including any such action of a contractor or nonprofit organization acting on behalf of the [agency](/usc/5/311.md?p=1) or administering a federally-funded program.
- (4) **Government service delivery channel.—** The term “Government service delivery channel” means the format or medium of an interaction or transaction with the Federal Government, including in-person, through the mail, through a digital service, by telephone, through a contact center, on a website, through outreach and communication, and through collaboration with a third party, or through other ways in which an individual or entity significantly interacts with the Federal Government.
- (5) **High impact service provider.—** The term “high impact service provider” means an [agency](/usc/5/311.md?p=1) program identified by the [Director](/usc/5/311.md?p=2) due to the scale and impact of the public-facing services of the program.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 118–231, § 2(a), Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2829.)