Opinion ID: 2357566
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Anti-Deficiency Act in Brief

Text: In light of the principles now codified at 31 U.S.C. § 1341 [known as the Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA)], the Supreme Court of the United States and other federal courts have explicitly and repeatedly held that all contracts for future payments of money, in advance of or in excess of existing appropriations, are void ab initio. [1] Williams v. District of Columbia, 902 A.2d 91, 94 (D.C.2006) (citing Hercules, Inc. v. United States, 516 U.S. 417, 427, 116 S.Ct. 981, 134 L.Ed.2d 47 (1996) (other citations omitted)). Under this statute, [w]ith one peculiar exception that the Comptroller General expressly sanctioned, `the accounting officers of the Government have never issued a decision sanctioning the incurring of an obligation for an open-ended indemnity in the absence of statutory authority to the contrary.' Hercules, 516 U.S. at 427 n. 10, 116 S.Ct. 981 (quoting In re Assumption by Government of Contractor Liability to Third Persons  Reconsideration, 62 Comp. Gen. 361, 364-65 (1983)).