[Decision Concerning Source for Payment of Expert's Fee in Court Case]

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia requested a decision concerning whether the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) could pay the cost of an expert hired to implement specific administrative actions that the court ordered it to perform from the permanent judgment fund. GAO held that DEA should pay the fees from its appropriations, since they were not litigation costs, attorney fees, or a money judgment. Accordingly, DEA should pay the fee from its own appropriations.