The Secretary or any disbursing or certifying official may request a decision from the Comptroller General on a question, involving a payment that is to be made, or a voucher presented to a certifying official for certification. For disbursing and certifying officers, decisions are rendered only on specific vouchers before them for action. Decisions are also rendered to disbursing and certifying officers who request reviews of settlements of their accounts and to individual claimants who request reviews or reconsideration of settlements disallowing their claims in whole or in part. Any agency which receives an advance Comptroller General decision must forward a copy of it to the Director, Office of Finance and Management. The OGC Law Library has copies of both published and unpublished Comptroller General decisions.
Unpublished decisions are available on microfiche.
Reclaims of items previously denied by an agency, unless it is determined administratively that the action taken was clearly in error and properly can be corrected by the agency. A claim that may not be adjusted by using an existing appropriation may be submitted to the Congress for introduction as a private bill for the relief of the claimant, if the Comptroller General believes there are legal or equitable reasons for Congress to consider it. Any claim an agency decides must be submitted to GAO under the preceding section should be sent to the Claims Division, U.S. General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C. 20548. The claim must be received by GAO within six years after the claim accrues, unless another time limit is specified in the statute under which the claim is made, or the claim is made by a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of the United States. In any case, the claim must be in writing over the signature and address of either the claimant or the claimant's authorized agent or attorney.