Request for Reconsideration

An employee of the Defense Property Disposal Service requested reconsideration of a prior decision regarding a claim for air travel expenses submitted by the employee. The original decision held that the employee was liable for expenses incurred incident to travel on a foreign air carrier under the provisions of the Fly America Act. The agency subsequently discovered another such trip taken by the employee and contended that the employee was also liable for those expenses per the decision on the first claim. The employee requested that the first decision be reconsidered, that he be relieved of liability for both trips, and in the alternative, that GAO waive payment of the debt if the prior decision is not be reversed. Since the employee did not offer any new evidence to support the reversal of the prior decision, GAO denied the request for reconsideration. The employee did not offer any proof that the second trip was made on a foreign air carrier because no comparable American flights were available. Therefore, he is liable for those costs also. As to the employee's request for waiver, the statute authorizing waiver of erroneous payments specifically excludes travel and transportation expense claims from the waiver authority of the Comptroller General. Therefore, the request for waiver was denied.