Violation of the 210-Day Limit Imposed by the Vacancies Reform Act, B-287720, May 18, 2001

B-287720 May 18, 2001 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights We are reporting a violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Reform Act). /1/ We have found that. It is our view that an acting Director may. No action need be taken at this time since there is no current violation of the Act. Such as when the President submits a nomination for the position to the Senate. /4/ The Act also requires executive agencies to report to the Congress and the Comptroller General specific information relating to covered vacancies. /5/ Of particular relevance here is that agencies are to report a vacancy and the date such vacancy occurred and the name of any person serving in an acting capacity and the date such service began. /6/ The Act also provides that the Comptroller General is to report to specified congressional committees. View Decision Violation of the 210-Day Limit Imposed by the Vacancies Reform Act, B-287720, May 18, 2001 The President The White House Dear Mr. President: Pursuant to section 3349(b) of title 5 of the United States Code, we are reporting a violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Reform Act). /1/ We have found that, during the last administration, the acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Institute) had served longer than the 210-day period allowed under the Act. However, with the recent Presidential transition and the application of the Presidential inaugural transition provision /2/ of the Vacancies Reform Act, it is our view that an acting Director may, as of January 20, 2001, once again temporarily serve at the Institute for the time period allowed /3/ under the Presidential inaugural transition provision. Therefore, no action need be taken at this time since there is no current violation of the Act. The Vacancies Reform Act The Vacancies Reform Act established new requirements for the temporary filling of vacant executive agency positions that require Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation (PAS positions). The Act generally limits the period of time such a position may be temporarily filled to 210 days with adjustments extending that time period in certain circumstances, such as when the President submits a nomination for the position to the Senate. /4/ The Act also requires executive agencies to report to the Congress and the Comptroller General specific information relating to covered vacancies. /5/ Of particular relevance here is that agencies are to report a vacancy and the date such vacancy occurred and the name of any person serving in an acting capacity and the date such service began. /6/ The Act also provides that the Comptroller General is to report to specified congressional committees, the President, and the Office of Personnel Management if the Comptroller General determines that an acting officer in a covered position is serving longer than the 210 days permitted by the Act. /7/ Acting Director of the Institute During our review of the Vacancies Reform Act's implementation, we sent to 62 federal agencies including the Institute a questionnaire requesting information on the status of PAS positions. The Institute responded that the position of Director became vacant on April 1, 1999, and that the Deputy Director of the Office of Museum Services became the acting Director on the same day and was acting in the Director's position until the time the questionnaire was returned to GAO. Since this information indicated that the acting Director had exceeded the 210-day limit, and since we had not received from the Institute a report of a vacancy in the Director's position or a report of the presence of an acting official temporarily filling the Director's position, we made further inquiries at the Institute. In response to our query as to why we had not received a report on the vacancy and the acting official, the Institute informed us that it had reported the fact of the vacancy and the presence of the acting official by sending notification to the White House. At the time the vacancy at the Institute occurred, the prior administration required agencies to report vacancies; persons serving in acting capacities; nominations; and rejections, withdrawals, or returns of nominations to the White House rather than directly to the Congress and GAO. As stated, however, we never received notification of the vacancy or the acting official's service. /8/ (The prior administration's practice has since been changed by the present administration, which has directed agencies to report these matters directly to the Congress and to GAO.) The Institute has one PAS official, the Director, and it has two Deputy Directors, one for the Office of Museum Services and one for the Office of Library Services, neither of which are PAS positions.