Robert W. Houk, B-247348
| Decision Date | 22 June 1992 |
| Docket Number | B-247348 |
| Parties | The Honorable Robert W. Houk Public Printer U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 2040 |
| Court | Comptroller General of the United States |
Dear Mr. Rensbarger:
This is in further response to your request for our opinion regarding the status of Ms. Patricia Gardner, an employee of the Government Printing Office (GPO), who has been on detail to the Library of Congress since 1988. Upon completion of our review of the matter, we find that the detail of Ms. Gardner by GPO to the Library of Congress is in violation of both 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316 and 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(a) (1988), and should be terminated. We are advising the heads of both agencies of our findings by letters dated today which contain a detailed discussion of our opinion. Enclosed for your information is a copy of our letter to the Librarian of Congress.
We trust this satisfies your inquiry.
The Honorable Robert W. Houk Public Printer U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20401
Dear Mr. Houk:
As you presumbably are aware, we received a request from the Inspector General of the Library of Congress for an opinion regarding the status of Ms. Patricia R. Gardner, an employee of the Government Printing Office (GPO), who has been on detail to the Library of Congress since 1988. This is to advise you that we have completed our review of the matter. For the reasons stated below, we have concluded that the detail of Ms. Gardner by GPO to the Library of Congress is in violation of both 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316 1988) and 31 U.S.C. Sec 1301(a) (1988), and should be terminated. In addition, we find the obligation and expenditure of GPO funds for the detail constitute violations of the Antideficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1341.
In 1988, GPO alleged Ms. Gardner took certain improper actions in connection with a GPO procurement and downgraded her from Assistant Public Printer (Administration) at the grade GS-18 level, to a grade GS- 15 position. Ms. Gardner appealed this action to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). In a decision issued on September 15, 1988, the MSPB reversed the agency downgrade action by ordering GPO "to cancel the demotion and to retroactively restore [Ms. Gardner] effective January 11, 1988, " but did not issue findings regarding other issues raised by Ms. Gardner. As a result of this decision, GPO and Ms. Gardner entered into a settlement which provided, among other things, for GPO to detail her to a position in another federal agency acceptable to her for one year, with the understanding that the detail could be extended to two years by agreement of the parties or terminated at any time if GPO management deemed that Ms Gardner's services were needed at GPO.
As a result of this settlement, Ms. Gardner was detailed to the Library of Congress in late 1988. Since April 1989, Ms Gardner has been serving as the Library's Acting Chief of Contracts and Logistics Services, a grade GS-15 position, at her retained GPO grade GS-18 salary. Although the agreement between Ms. Gardner and GPO contemplated that the detail would not exceed 2 years, Ms. Gardner has continued at the Library through the present time. However, in August 1990 GPO proposed to the Library that the Library assume the costs of Ms. Gardner's salary over a phased-in period. By letter dated December 4, 1991, the Librarian of Congress concurred and agreed to assume 25 percent of Ms Gardner's annual salary and benefits in fiscal year 1992 50 percent in fiscal year 1993, and all costs in fiscal year 1994, provided Ms. Gardner is still detailed to the Library at that time.
In his request to our Office, the Inspector General questioned whether this detail is in violation of 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316, which states that "An employee of the Government Printing Office May not be detailed to duties not pertaining to the work of public printing and binding in an executive department or other Government establishment unless expressly authorized by law."[1]In developing this case, we requested the views of both GPO and the Library of Congress on whether this detail violated 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316. We also questioned whether this detail violated 31 U.S.C. Sec. 130l(a) which requires that appropriations be applied only to the objects for which they are made unless otherwise provided by law, since under this arrangement the GPO has been paying Ms. Gardner's salary and benefits without reimbursement by the Library.
In response, GPO contends that Ms. Gardner's detail to the Library was one part of a "global" settlement which resolved all matters relating to the action before the MSPB as well as two pending Equal Employment Opportunity complaints filed by Ms. Gardner. GPO states that management was concerned that to place Ms. Gardner back in her former position would have been disruptive. GPO cites to the MSPB policy encouraging settlements between litigants before it, as well as the broad authority vested in the agency to resolve complaints of discrimination. GPO also suggests that the legislative history of 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316 indicates Congress May not have been concerned about the type of ameliorative detail involved here but rather situations where agencies could avoid having some of the costs for printing charged to their budgets by having details of GPO personnel. Finally, concerning the limitation in 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301 (a), GPO indicates it could not find any definitive authority as to whether that limitation applies to a revolving fund such as that in place at GPO under 44 U.S.C. Sec. 309, but GPO defers to our expertise on that question. GPO further indicates, however, that the agreement whereby the Library assumes Ms. Gardner's costs would eliminate this objection.
In its response to our inquiry, the Library of Congress states its understanding that it was assisting the Public Printer in his attempt to bring about the settlement of Ms. Gardner's grievances under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. It is the Library's opinion that the remedial provisions of Title VII supersede any general statutory limitations imposed on the Public Printer if he chooses to define Ms. Gardner's assistance to the Library as a detail in, the best interests of GPO and one that not only effectuated the purposes of Title VII but served public printing as well. The Library did not comment specifically on the limitation in 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(a)
OPINIONA "detail" is the temporary assignment of an employee to a different position or set of duties for a specified period of time. Federal Personnel Manual, ch. 300, Sec. 8 (Inst. 369, May 15, 1990). As noted above, the detail of GPO employees to other' government establishments is limited by 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316, which provides that such employees "May not be detailed to duties not pertaining to the work of public printing and binding." Neither GPO nor the Library of Congress have suggested that Ms. Gardner's work at the Library of Congress has to any appreciable extent pertained to the work of public printing and binding.
We have reviewed the legislative history of the Act of June 25, 1910, ch. 384, Sec. 1, 36 Stat. 770, from which the present provision found in 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316 derives, and we found nothing therein to suggest that it would not apply to a detail such as that of Ms. Gardner under the circumstances described above. GPO points to a colloquy between the Public Printer and the Chairman of the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations suggesting that Congress' principal objection was that agencies were abusing the privilege of having details of GPO personnel to avoid absorbing some of the costs for printing.[2]However, the discussion does not indicate that to be the sole objection to the details, and the language of the statute on its face clearly prohibits a detail not pertaining to the work of public printing and binding, unless expressly authorized by law. Therefore, we do not view the colloquy in the hearings referred to by GPO as sufficient to render the plain meaning of the statutory prohibition inapplicable to details such as that of Ms. Gardner. See generally, Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108 (1980), concerning the weight to be given the plain meaning of a statute.
Further we find that Ms. Gardner's detail is in conflict with 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(a). In 64 Comp.Gen. 370 (1985), we held that, absent specific statutory authority, nonreimbursable interagency details violate the provision in section 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301 (a) that appropriations be spent only on the objects for which they are appropriated. In that case the appropriation funding the details neither provided for the details nor was so connected with the work that was being done that it could be said the details furthered a specific purpose for which the appropriation was made. Correspondingly, we found that such details augmented the appropriations of the receiving agency. Our holding covered situations both in which the detail was not authorized by statute, and in which the detail was so authorized but the statute said nothing about how the detail was to be funded.[3] 64 Comp.Gen. at 376-82. In Ms. Gardner's situation, not only was the detail not authorized by statute, but as indicated above it was in contravention of a specific provision of law, 44 U.S.C. Sec. 316. The GPO raises the question of whether the limitation on appropriations in 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1301(a) is applicable to a revolving fund such that in place at and authorized by 44 U.S.C. Sec. 309. Under the revolving fund concept, receipts are credited directly to the fund and are available, without further appropriation by Congress (unless the legislation specifies otherwise), for expenditures to carry out the purposes of the...
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