Reading Room Document

Comptroller General's Authority to Relieve Disbursing and Certifying Officials From Liability

Statutory provisions purporting to authorize the Comptroller General, an agent of Congress, to relieve certifying and disbursing officials in the executive branch from liability for illegal or improper payments are unconstitutional. 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/23321/download.

August 5, 1991