	Introduction

The Judgment Fund (or Fund) is a permanent appropriation enacted by Congress in 1956. It is only accessible when the United States has waived its sovereign immunity and certain statutory conditions are met. This report also outlines specific instances in which the Fund may be accessed, and when costs other than the principal award may be paid. Therefore, the United States can be sued pursuant to certain statutes, most commonly the Federal Tort Claims Act. Awards Prior to the Creation of the Judgment Fund

While waiver of sovereign immunity was less common in the early Republic than it is today, determining and settling claims against the United States occupied a substantial amount of Congress's time since its first session. In the Budget Accounting Act of 1921, Congress transferred authority to the General Accounting Office (GAO) for all claims settlement duties previously held by the Treasury Department. Originally, the Fund was available only for judgments for claims of less than $100,000 entered in the Court of Federal Claims or a U.S. district court. In 1961, Congress authorized payment from the Judgment Fund for settlements negotiated by the Department of Justice on behalf of the United States, where litigation could have resulted in a monetary judgment. In 1996, Congress transferred certification of payment from the Judgment Fund from GAO to the Financial Management Service in the Department of the Treasury. All judgments must be final, meaning the award will not be overturned on appeal. Finally, the Judgment Fund may be used to pay certain costs to the prevailing party in litigation, as enumerated in 28 U.S.C. The judgment must also be final, so that payments are not made from the Fund when there is a chance the award could be changed or overturned. Lastly, the Judgment Fund is limited to litigative awards, meaning awards that were or could have been made in a court. The Equal Access to Justice Act

The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) provides for award of attorneys' fees for individuals and small entities that prevail in cases against the federal government. Contract Disputes Act and No FEAR Act

Congress has passed two statutes that require agencies to reimburse the Judgment Fund for payment of claims. The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act) covers whistleblower and employment discrimination suits for federal employees, creating a cause of action for federal employees who have been subjected to harassment or discrimination in the workplace. The act would require the Secretary of the Treasury to post on a publicly accessible website the claimant, agency, fact summary, and payment amount for each claim from the Judgment Fund, within 30 days after the payment was made, unless a law or court order otherwise prohibits the disclosure of such information. In the 112 th Congress, the Government Transparency and Recordkeeping Act of 2012 was introduced but not enacted. The bill would have amended the Judgment Fund enabling statute to require the Secretary of the Treasury to publicly report all Judgment Fund payments since 2003, and report all future payments from EAJA. The bill's provisions called for the disclosures to be made online and include those required under the Judgment Fund Transparency Act, as well as specific details about attorneys' fees and interest paid from the Judgment Fund.
The Judgment Fund is a permanent, indefinite appropriation that was created by Congress in 1956 to pay judgments entered against the United States. Generally, the United States cannot be sued unless it has waived its sovereign immunity. Originally, such waivers were rare, so individual claims were assigned to congressional committees, which in turn appropriated funds to satisfy the judgments. Prior to the creation of the Judgment Fund, the number of claims grew rapidly, taking up an increasing amount of Congress's time and resources. Eventually, the Judgment Fund was created to reduce Congress's workload, so that individual appropriations were not needed for each award entered.
The Fund's administration has changed substantially since its inception, with varying degrees of control and oversight by Congress, the Government Accountability Office, and the Treasury Department. Originally, the Fund was limited to claims of less than $100,000, entered by the Court of Federal Claims or a U.S. District Court. As payments grew in size, Congress transferred authority to the Justice Department to make payments on behalf of the United States, as certified by the Attorney General.
Today, the Fund is administered by the Financial Management Service in the Treasury Department and is only accessible when certain closely circumscribed statutory requirements are met. Most importantly, an agency may not access the Fund when there is another appropriation that may be applied or when the plaintiff prevailed through an administrative remedy. In addition, the fund can only be used for monetary awards that are final, meaning the award cannot be changed or overturned. The awards must result from claims that were or could have been litigated in court.
This report sets out specific instances in which the Fund can be accessed and illustrates the procedural mechanisms for obtaining payment under certain statutory causes of action. Although primarily used for the payment of principal awards, attorneys' fees and interest on awards may also be paid from the Fund. At the court's discretion, certain costs enumerated in 28 U.S.C. §1920 may be awarded to the prevailing party. In addition, certain statutes, such as the Federal Tort Claims Act, provide that attorneys' fees may be recovered by the prevailing party. In addition, interest that accrues after the judgment may also be payable from the Fund. This report provides examples of how the payments from the Fund may be made under the Equal Access to Justice Act, Contract Disputes Act, Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act), and through tribe-specific judgment funds.
In addition, this report will briefly highlight several recently proposed changes to the Judgment Fund's administration. In the 113th Congress, the Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2013 (H.R. 317) would require the Secretary of the Treasury to post on a public website the claimant, agency, fact summary, and payment amount for each claim paid out of the Fund. Introduced but not enacted in the 112th Congress, the Government Transparency and Recordkeeping Act of 2012 (S. 3415) would have required the Treasury Secretary to publicly report all payments from the Fund under the Equal Access to Justice Act since 2003 and all future claims. Amendments to the No FEAR Act that were proposed in H.R. 6780 (110th Congress) and H.R. 67 (111th Congress) would have impacted reimbursement of the Fund for payments under the No FEAR Act.