Request for Reimbursement of Relocation Expenses

An Army employee appealed a decision which disallowed his claims for certain relocation expenses incident to an assignment to a university for 1 year. The employee contended that his claims were denied because of rigid application of the travel regulations and asked that his claims be forwarded to the agency which had the authority to change the regulations. GAO noted that it was a federal law which prohibited payment of the claims, not the regulations which implement the law. The disallowed claims were for per diem for his wife, the expenses of purchasing a residence, the cost of settling an unexpired lease, miscellaneous expenses, mileage and tolls for a second car, and additional reimbursement for the shipment of his household goods. In the appeal, GAO allowed the reimbursement for the expenses of the second car because the Army later authorized the use of the second car. However, the previous denial of the other claims was upheld since he was properly paid at the commuted rate for the shipment of his household goods, and the other expenses were not allowable.