Request for Reevaluation of Decision Basis

The Director of the Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center (NFC) asked GAO to reevaluate its basis for disallowing reimbursement for alcoholic beverages. The request was made as a result of an NFC employee protesting the denial of his claim for the reimbursement of alcoholic beverages as a subsistence expense while on travel. In his protest, the claimant contended that alcoholic beverages should be included in the statutory definition of subsistence and should be eligible for reimbursement, since alcoholic beverages are necessary to the traveler's comfort in the consumption of a meal and since alcoholic beverages are equivalent to beverages that are considered to be a part of a meal. The claimant also suggested that the decision to disallow the reimbursement of alcoholic beverages consumed with meals was unjustifiably founded on moral values rather than on the facts involved. GAO held that implementing regulations contemplate reimbursement only for items essential or indispensable to subsistence. Additionally, subsistence is defined in the regulations to mean lodging, meals, and other necessary expenses for the personal sustenance and comfort of the traveler. GAO could not regard alcoholic beverages for which a separate charge is made as falling within such category. Further, GAO has no authority to decide whether the motivation for this particular kind of treatment should be characterized as unjustifiably founded on moral values or whether it is founded upon practical considerations based on years of experience or other considerations entirely. Accordingly, GAO could see no reason for a change and concluded that reimbursement for alcoholic beverages consumed with meals is not authorized.