Certification of DIA Emergency and Extraordinary Expense Vouchers

A State Department certifying officer requested a decision on whether he should have certified a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) emergency or extraordinary expense voucher which did not have supporting documentation because of security considerations. GAO held that the officer should have certified the voucher without supporting documentation, since he: (1) legally could not question the propriety of the DIA payee's original certification that the expenses were correct and proper; and (2) was only responsible for errors in his processing of the voucher and not for the underlying propriety of the payee's certification.