Reading Room Document

Waiver of Statutes of Limitations in Connection With Claims Against the Department of Agriculture

The Supreme Court's decision in Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs made no alteration in the fundamental rules governing waivers of sovereign immunity in a ctions against the United States. Irwin and the cases following it therefore provide no support for the novel conclusion that the executive branch has the discretion to dispense with a congressionally mandated statute of limitations in litigation or the compromise of claims. Unless Congress provides to the contrary, adherence to the relevant statute of limitations remains a strict and non-waivable condition on suits against the federal government. Enactment of legislation authorizing the payment of claims barred by the statute of limitation s under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is the necessary and constitutionally appropriate means of satisfying such claims. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/19651/download.

June 18, 1998