[VA Employee's Request for Reconsideration of Claim for Subsistence and Relocation Expenses]

A Veterans Administration (VA) employee requested reconsideration of the Claims Group's denial of his claim for temporary duty subsistence expenses and miscellaneous relocation expenses at the family rate of $200. VA: (1) denied the employee's original claim for temporary subsistence expenses since he maintained a permanent residence at a VA medical center during his entire assignment; and (2) limited his entitlement of miscellaneous expenses to $100 since he moved only himself and not his family. GAO held that the employee was entitled to reimbursement for: (1) miscellaneous relocation expenses for himself only, since his wife was not in his household at the time; (2) his temporary quarters expenses for 30 days from the time he reported to his new duty station; and (3) meals and other allowable expenses during those 30 days. Accordingly, the claim was allowed in part and denied in part.