The Judgment Fund (or Fund) is a permanent appropriation enacted by Congress in 1956. The Fund is an unlimited amount of money set aside to pay judgments against the United States. It is only accessible when the United States has waived its sovereign immunity and certain statutory conditions are met. The Fund has evolved in administration and function over the last half century and has been subject to limiting principles. Most importantly, the Judgment Fund cannot be used in place of a specific appropriation. The Fund remains a source of continued controversy and discussion, especially in the current fiscal environment. During the budget uncertainties in the 1990s, federal agencies became increasingly concerned about the Judgment Fund's solvency, as statutory and constitutional constraints precluded the agencies from obligating funds where appropriated money is not available. This report reviews the history of the Judgment Fund, which has been administered through different agencies and with variable levels of congressional oversight since its inception. This report also outlines specific instances in which the Fund may be accessed, and when costs other than the principal award may be paid. Finally, this report provides examples of how and when the Judgment Fund may be accessed, as well as instances of when tribal judgment funds are implicated. The U.S. government has sovereign immunity, meaning it cannot be sued unless it has waived immunity or consented to suit. Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution immunizes federal officials from lawsuit, disallows suits against the federal government by the states, and has been interpreted to prohibit suits against the federal government generally. Under limited circumstances, the United States has waived sovereign immunity; it has done so in a constitutional provision, by express statutory authority, or through a contract. Therefore, the United States can be sued pursuant to certain statutes, most commonly the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Tucker Act, the Military Personnel and Civilian Employees Claims Act, and the Federal Employees Compensation Act are other examples of sovereign immunity waivers passed in the last century. These statutes often contain substantial limiting principles and have been narrowly construed by courts. Congress must make provisions to pay judgments when suits against the United States are successful. Appropriated funds may not be used to satisfy claims unless there is specific statutory authority that allows the claim to go forward and provides a source of funds to pay any award. In the wake of several legislative enactments waiving the United States' sovereign immunity, Congress enacted the Judgment Fund in an effort to reduce the need to allocate specific appropriations for payment of claims. While waiver of sovereign immunity was less common in the early Republic than it is today, determining and settling claims against the United States occupied a substantial amount of Congress's time since its first session. As early as the Continental Congress, the legislature established committees to audit and settle claims against the United States. The structure and staffing of these committees left most of them with an overwhelming workload, as claims from the War for Independence multiplied and dragged on. Therefore, one of Congress's first priorities after the ratification of the Constitution was establishing an executive branch agency that could manage payments of claims against the United States. In its first session, Congress established the Treasury Department in the Treasury Bill of 1789, with an extremely detailed enabling statute that left Congress with substantial control over monetary policy but little ministerial responsibility. Among other things, the act authorized the Treasury Department to settle all claims and accounts, delegating to the Auditor the duty to examine claims and to the Comptroller the duty to approve or disapprove of the Auditor's finding. In the event a claim was disputed by the government, the Treasury Department disallowed the claim and accepted the government's facts. If the claim was denied by the Treasury Department, the claimant could petition Congress directly. Congress, in turn, made specific appropriations for each claim validated by the department or through the petition process. This resulted in many claims waiting in limbo, where the Auditor and Comptroller had agreed to pay the claim, but where Congress had yet to make an appropriation to satisfy the judgment. By 1855, Congress was still dedicating a large portion of its resources to passing appropriations to satisfy claims against the United States, and hearing petitions from claims that were denied by the Treasury Department. In order to reduce its workload, Congress established the Court of Claims, which served in an advisory capacity. Rather than issuing binding decisions, the court simply considered the merits of claims filed against the United States, and recommended appropriations to Congress. At President Lincoln's urging, Congress subsequently empowered the Court of Claims to issue binding decisions, though the Supreme Court found that the Treasury Department could decline enforcement of the decisions. Once Congress repealed this authority, the Supreme Court could hear appeals from the Court of Claims, and the Court of Claims' decisions carried finality and enforcement on par with other Article III courts. Congress also clarified that certifications from the Treasury Department were final and conclusive. However, in 1921, desiring a tighter hold on the payment of claims, Congress again changed the administration of the settlement process. In the Budget Accounting Act of 1921, Congress transferred authority to the General Accounting Office (GAO) for all claims settlement duties previously held by the Treasury Department. GAO, in turn, sought appropriations from Congress, so that Congress could strengthen controls over expenditures. This allowed Congress to regain structural control over the payments process. However, Congress was left with considerable involvement in appropriating funds for each claim, which encumbered committees and ultimately proved untenable. In 1956, Congress passed the Judgment Fund enabling statute, a permanent and indefinite appropriation available to pay all judgments against the United States not covered by a specific appropriation. Congress aimed to reduce the time lapse between judgments entered against the United States and actual payment, so that agencies would pay less post-judgment interest on awards. Originally, the Fund was available only for judgments for claims of less than $100,000 entered in the Court of Federal Claims or a U.S. district court. Congress anticipated that the Fund would cover over 98% of all claims, thereby drastically reducing the need for individual appropriations and also streamlining the payment process. The House report accompanying the bill indicates that a permanent appropriation "will permit a simplification of the payment procedure, will provide uniformity in interest computation, and will serve to reduce the total amount of interest paid by the government." The Senate report underscored the limitations in the bill on what payments could be made from the Judgment Fund, emphasizing the audit, review, and finality requirements. Administration of payments from the Fund changed significantly in the latter 20 th century. In 1961, Congress authorized payment from the Judgment Fund for settlements negotiated by the Department of Justice on behalf of the United States, where litigation could have resulted in a monetary judgment. In addition, the Judgment Fund could also pay for judgments against the United States from state and foreign tribunals subject to certification by the Attorney General. By the mid-1970s, the Fund's $100,000 payment ceiling proved too low to cover many settlements and judgments, and Congress raised the allowable damages to avoid making specific appropriations for larger awards. In 1996, Congress transferred certification of payment from the Judgment Fund from GAO to the Financial Management Service in the Department of the Treasury. GAO retained administrative settlement authority for settlement of non-litigative claims. In recent years, Congress has taken an interest in the amount of money that has been spent from the Judgment Fund. Generally, these bills deal with transparency and improved agency accountability, including the Judgment Fund Transparency Act and proposed amendments to the No FEAR Act. In 2011, the Financial Management Service, the bureau in charge of administering the Fund, published a 2011 fiscal report, which included information about payments made from the Judgment Fund. The Judgment Fund is a permanent, indefinite appropriation. By definition, it requires no further congressional action and does not expire at the close of any fiscal year. The appropriation makes an unlimited amount of funds available for payment of certain judgments against the United States. Awards are only paid out of the Judgment Fund when payment is not otherwise provided for in a specific appropriation. All judgments must be final, meaning the award will not be overturned on appeal. In addition, all settlements paid out of the Judgment Fund must represent the final and comprehensive award for the actual or threatened litigation, negotiated and agreed to by the Department of Justice. Finally, the Judgment Fund may be used to pay certain costs to the prevailing party in litigation, as enumerated in 28 U.S.C. §1920. These costs typically include court fees and compensation for court-appointed experts. The Judgment Fund statute sets out four requirements for accessing the Fund. First, the Fund may only be used to pay judgments or settlements involving money judgments. For example, if a court ordered an agency to hire a consultant to implement fair employment practices, the Judgment Fund could not be used to pay costs and fees associated with fulfilling this requirement. The judgment must also be final, so that payments are not made from the Fund when there is a chance the award could be changed or overturned. This has been interpreted to mean that the judgment must come out of action by the court of last resort or that the parties have declined to seek further review. Most often, the time for appeal simply expires before payment from the Judgment Fund. However, the statute exempts payment for an "irreducible minimum amount," meaning an amount that has been assessed as final. For example, in Trout v. Garrett , the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that payment from the Judgment Fund was proper for interim attorneys' fees in a Title VII employment discrimination action against the government. The court found that the Judgment Fund statute was intended to serve as a mechanism for payment rather than to interfere with the ordinary course of litigation. The Judgment Fund may not be used for payments if the award is otherwise provided for, by appropriation or statute. For example, courts have held that annual appropriations to the Land and Water Conservation Fund must be used where there is a land condemnation judgment against the U.S. Park Service.