Court Opinion

ID: 9847190
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:55:28.131843+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:02.857155
License: Public Domain

GAJARSA, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s determination that the FDIC is not a non-appropriated funds instrumentality (“NAFI”). Because the FDIC qualifies as a NAFI under our precedent, I would reverse the trial court’s-determination that it has jurisdiction over this case and remand to the trial court with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.
The majority holds that “[t]he Court of Federal Claims correctly ruled that the FDIC does not meet the fourth factor of the AINS test.” Majority Op. at 812. In *830other words, the majority concludes that the FDIC is not a NAFI because there is no “ ‘clear expression by Congress that the agency was to be separated from general federal revenues’ ” — the fourth factor in the test we articulated in AINS, Inc. v. United States, 365 F.3d 1333, 1342 (Fed. Cir.2004) (quoting L’Enfant Plaza Properties, Inc. v. United States, 229 Ct.Cl. 278, 668 F.2d 1211, 1212 (1982)). I respectfully disagree. As we explained in AINS:
The fourth factor is often the least obvious; congressional intent is not always explicit in statutory language. In the past, we have found several different statutory ways for Congress to express its intent to separate an agency from the general fund. See, e.g., L’Enfant Plaza, 668 F.2d at 1212 (explicit prohibition from receiving appropriated funds); Denkler, 782 F.2d at 1004-05 (absence of language authorizing appropriations); id. at 1005 (explicit statement that agency’s funds shall not be construed to be government funds or appropriated monies); Core Concepts, 327 F.3d at 1336 (direction that all monies under the agency’s control be deposited into the U.S. Treasury to the credit of that agency).
AINS, 365 F.3d at 1343. We then proceeded to find that the fourth factor was met in AINS based on the following: (1) “[t]he Mint’s expenses are paid from its own revolving fund, funded through its own activities” and (2) “[t]he statute makes no provisions for appropriations ... and the legislative history indicates Congressional intent to keep the Mint self-financing and distinct from the general fund.” Id. (citation omitted). Here, like the Mint, the FDIC’s expenses are funded by its own revenue by raising fees imposed upon the member banks. See 12 U.S.C. § 1817(b). Moreover, the relevant statutory provisions do not provide for appropriation of general funds to defray the FDIC’s expenses. In fact, Congress strictly limited the FDIC’s ability to incur obligations, see id. § 1825(c)(5), and expected the FDIC to make special assessments upon Deposit Insurance Fund member banks when it requires additional funds, see id. § 1817(b)(5). Thus, the FDIC is a NAFI.
Our decisions in three additional cases, Denkler v. United States, 782 F.2d 1003 (Fed.Cir.1986), Furash & Co. v. United States, 252 F.3d 1336 (Fed. Cir.2001), and Core Concepts of Florida, Inc. v. United States, 327 F.3d 1331 (Fed.Cir.2003), likewise compel a determination that the FDIC is a NAFI. In Denkler, we found “a clear expression by Congress that the agency was to be separated from general federal revenues” because “[t]he combination of designation of assessments on banks as the source of funds for salaries, and the absence of the conventional language authorizing funds to be appropriated, even when other sources are also looked to, accomplishes such clear expression.” 782 F.2d at 1005 (internal quotation marks omitted). Likewise, in the present case, the fact that the FDIC makes assessments upon Deposit Insurance Fund member banks to provide sufficient funds for its operation, combined with the fact there is no statutory language authorizing appropriation of general funds for FDIC usage, is sufficient to demonstrate the required clear expression of Congressional intent that the FDIC is to be separated from general federal revenues. See 12 U.S.C. § 1817(b).
In Furash, when considering whether Congress intended for agency funds to be separated from general federal revenues, we noted the relevance of statutory language stating that agency funds “shall not be construed to be Government Funds or appropriated monies, or subject to apportionment for the purposes of chapter 15 of Title 31, or any other authority.” 252 F.3d *831at 1341. Here, the existence of similar statutory language is critical to establish and demonstrate Congress’s intent that FDIC funds remain separated from general federal revenues. See 12 U.S.C. § 1817(d) (“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts received pursuant to any assessment under this section and any other amounts received by the Corporation shall not be subject to apportionment for the purposes of chapter 15 of title 31 or under any other authority.”).
In Core Concepts, again considering “whether Congress has clearly expressed its intent that the agency, or the particular activity that gave rise to the dispute in question, is to be separated from general federal revenues,” we were persuaded by the following: (1) the fact that the agency’s “enabling legislation includes no authorization of appropriations, such as is usually found in the statutory charters of governmental entities which may rely on such appropriations in whole or in any part’ ” and (2) the fact that “several congressional reports relating to [the agency’s] operations provide evidence of Congress’s own understanding that [the agency] is to operate entirely without appropriated funds.” 327 F.3d at 1336-37 (internal citations omitted). Those same facts are present here and should produce the same result — a determination that the FDIC is a NAFI.
The majority’s reliance on expressions that Congress intended to back FDIC deposits with the full faith and credit of the United States is misplaced and is not legally supported. See Majority Op. at 810. Those statements are specific to FDIC deposits and provide no support for the assertion that Congress intended to apportion general funds to pay contract judgments against the FDIC. See Kyer v. United States, 177 Ct.Cl. 747, 369 F.2d 714, 718 (1966) (“[T]o remain within the framework of our jurisdiction, it is essential that the contract sued on be one which could have been satisfied out of appropriated funds---- To be actionable in this court, that contract must be one which, in the contemplation of Congress, could obligate public monies.”). In fact, Congress’s expression of a specific exception to the scheme under which FDIC expenses are to be paid by the agency’s own funds demonstrates that Congress did not intend to back other obligations of the FDIC — i.e., obligations unrelated to the deposits. See Furash, 252 F.3d at 1341 (explaining that “a specific exception to the scheme under which [agency] expenses are not paid by appropriated funds ... does not alter the status of the [agency] as a non-appropriated fund instrumentality. Instead, it confirms that, except with respect to that specific activity, which is not at issue in this case, the [agency’s] expenses are not expected to be defrayed by appropriated funds.”). Moreover, the fact that the FDIC may borrow funds from the Treasury is of no moment. The FDIC is statutorily obligated to repay any borrowed funds with interest. 12 U.S.C. § 1824(a). Indeed, the FDIC must submit a repayment plan and demonstrate that its income will be sufficient to repay the loan as scheduled. Id. at § 1824(c). Thus, the statutory provisions allowing the FDIC to borrow from the Treasury give no indication that Congress intends to appropriate general federal funds to defray FDIC expenses. In contrast, the majority relies on the full faith and credit of the United States to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States, but the only basis for its action is “the strong commitment to the nation’s banking system and for protection of deposits.” Majority Op. at 811. However, regardless of the fact that the full faith and credit of the United States may be used to support the insurance function of the FDIC, it cannot legally waive the *832sovereign immunity of the United States because the statutory scheme does not allow for appropriated funds to be used for the FDIC’s expenses. See College Sav. Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Educ. Expense Bd., 527 U.S. 666, 682, 119 S.Ct. 2219, 144 L.Ed.2d 605 (1999) (a waiver of sovereign immunity “cannot be implied but must be unequivocally expressed”) (internal citations omitted).
For the foregoing reasons, the FDIC is a NAFI, and the Court of Federal Claims lacks jurisdiction to consider the present action. Thus, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion.