[Decision Concerning Army Corps of Engineers Employee's Entitlement to Reimbursement of Travel Expenses]

The Army requested a decision on whether it should reimburse an employee for certain temporary duty travel expenses. GAO noted that: (1) the employee submitted lodging vouchers for one hotel that were higher than those the hotel submitted; (2) the employee submitted vouchers for weekend nights that he did not stay at a second hotel and for meals he ate at home; and (3) the Army denied the employee's claim for reimbursement. GAO found that: (1) the Army failed to show that the employee was aware of additional hotel receipts showing the lower charges or that he possessed copies of them; (2) the employee was not entitled to reimbursement for meal expenses he incurred when he traveled home; and (3) the employee was entitled to reimbursement for his transportation and lodging expenses for his weekend return travel, not to exceed his constructive travel and subsistence expenses at the temporary duty site. Accordingly, the Army should reimburse the employee for his entire lodging expenses at the first hotel and for his expenses at the second hotel on a constructive cost basis.