Reading Room Document
Availability of agency funds to pay attorney's fee awards under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("Act").
The document is a response to a draft memorandum regarding the availability of agency funds to pay attorney's fee awards under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The conclusion reached in the document is that agencies do have the legal authority to pay awards under the Act from their general operating funds, even without specific appropriations for that purpose. The document presents a dispute over the interpretation of the funding provision and the extent of an agency's discretion to allocate funds among authorized activities under a lump sum appropriation. The questions presented for review include the interpretation of the funding provision, the agency's legal authority to reprogram funds within a lump sum account, and the constitutional concerns related to the reprogramming of funds.
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit