The Secretary shall establish and maintain within the Department the Rural Utilities Service and assign to the Service such functions as the Secretary considers appropriate.

The Rural Utilities Service shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the President.

(1) Appointment The Rural Utilities Service shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the President.

(2) Compensation The Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service shall receive basic pay at a rate not to exceed the maximum amount of compensation payable to a member of the Senior Executive Service under subsection (b) of section 5382 of title 5.

The Secretary shall carry out through the Rural Utilities Service the following functions that are under the jurisdiction of the Department:

Electric and telephone loan programs and water and waste facility activities authorized by law, including—

(A) the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.); and

(B) section 1926–1 [1] of this title; and

Water and waste facility programs and activities authorized by law, including—

(A) sections 1926, 1926a, 1926b,1 and 1926c of this title, the provisions of sections 1929 and 1929a of this title relating to assets, terms, and conditions of water and sewer programs, section 1932(b) of this title, and section 1013a of this title; and

(B) section 2324 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 1 (7 U.S.C. 1926 note).

(Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 232, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3219; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, § 747(b)(2), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1128; Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(a)(2), Aug. 10, 2012, 126 Stat. 1283; Pub. L. 115–334, title XII, § 12408(a)(1), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4976.)