§3321. Disbursing authority in the executive branch

(a) Except as provided in this section or another law, only officers and employees of the Department of the Treasury designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as disbursing officials may disburse public money available for expenditure by an executive agency.

(b) For economy and efficiency, the Secretary may delegate the authority to disburse public money to officers and employees of other executive agencies.

(c) The head of each of the following executive agencies shall designate personnel of the agency as disbursing officials to disburse public money available for expenditure by the agency:

(1) United States Marshal's Office.

(2) The Department of Defense.

(3) The Department of Homeland Security.¹ (with respect to public money available for expenditure by the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy).

(d) On request of the Secretary and with the approval of the head of an executive agency referred to in subsection (c) of this section, facilities of the agency may be used to assist in disbursing public money available for expenditure by another executive agency.

( Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 949 ; Pub. L. 103–355, title III, §3067, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3337 ; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title IX, §913(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 410 ; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, §1009(a)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2633 ; Pub. L. 109–241, title IX, §902(b)(1), July 11, 2006, 120 Stat. 566 .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
3321(a), (b)	5:901(note).	Exec. Order No. 6166, June 10, 1933, §4.
3321(c), (d)	31:492–1.	R.S. §176; Sept. 6, 1966, Pub. L. 89–554, §8(a), 80 Stat. 632 ; June 6, 1972, Pub. L. 92–310, §231(a), 86 Stat. 209 .
	5 App.	Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1940, eff. June 30, 1940, §§3, 4, 54 Stat. 1234.
		Exec. Order No. 6728, May 29, 1934.

The section uses the defined term "executive agency" in section 102 of the revised title because the source provisions of this section are from a reorganization plan and executive orders that apply only to departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch of the United States Government.

In subsections (a) and (b), the words "Secretary of the Treasury" and "Secretary" are substituted for references to the Division of Disbursement and a Chief Disbursing Officer because of the source provisions restated in section 321(c) of the revised title. The words "public money" are substituted for "moneys of the United States" for consistency with the other source provisions restated in the section and for consistency in the chapter.

Subsection (a) is substituted for section 4(1st paragraph) of Executive Order No. 6166 to omit executed words.

In subsection (b), the words "may require" and "as the interests of" are omitted as unnecessary. The words "to establish local offices" are omitted because of the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury as the head of the Department of the Treasury and the authority of the Secretary under section 321 of the revised title. The text of section 4(last paragraph) is omitted as superseded by section 3325 of the revised title.

In subsection (c), the text of 31:492–1(1st sentence) is applied only to the listed agencies because of subsection (a) and Executive Order 6728. The text of 31:492–1(last sentence) is omitted as superseded by section 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 18 of 1950 (eff. July 1, 1950, 64 Stat. 1270) and by 40:490. In clause (1), the words after "disbursement by United States marshals" and before the last proviso in section 3 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1940 (eff. June 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1234) are omitted as unnecessary because of 28:571 and sections 3512(a)–(c) and 3513(a) of the revised title. In clause (2), the word "pay" is substituted for "salaries" in Executive Order No. 6728 for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. The words "including the Marine Corps" are omitted as being included in "military departments". The words "Panama Canal" are omitted because of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977. The first proviso is omitted as unnecessary because of sections 3512 and 3513 of the revised title. Section 4 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1940 is omitted because (1) the Post Office Department was abolished by the 1970 restatement of title 39, with all authority of the former Postmaster General being placed in the new United States Postal Service, (2) under 39:410 and 3604, the Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission were exempt from all provisions of law related to budget and funds, and (3) the Postal Savings System and its Board of Trustees were abolished under section 5 of the Act of March 28, 1942 (ch. 205, 56 Stat. 189).

Amendments

2006-Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 109–241 substituted "Department of Homeland Security." for "Department of Transportation".

1996-Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 104–106 added par. (2) and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: "The Department of Defense (except for disbursements for departmental pay and expenses in the District of Columbia)."

Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 104–201 added par. (3).

1994-Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 103–355 substituted "The Department of Defense" for "military departments of the Department of Defense".

Improper Payments

Pub. L. 107–300, Nov. 26, 2002, 116 Stat. 2350 , provided that:

"SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

"This Act may be cited as the 'Improper Payments Information Act of 2002'.

"SEC. 2. ESTIMATES OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS AND REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO REDUCE THEM.

"(a) Identification of Susceptible Programs and Activities.-The head of each agency shall, in accordance with guidance prescribed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, annually review all programs and activities that it administers and identify all such programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper payments.

"(b) Estimation of Improper Payment.-With respect to each program and activity identified under subsection (a), the head of the agency concerned shall-

"(1) estimate the annual amount of improper payments; and

"(2) submit those estimates to Congress before March 31 of the following applicable year, with all agencies using the same method of reporting, as determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

"(c) Reports on Actions To Reduce Improper Payments.-With respect to any program or activity of an agency with estimated improper payments under subsection (b) that exceed $10,000,000, the head of the agency shall provide with the estimate under subsection (b) a report on what actions the agency is taking to reduce the improper payments, including-

"(1) a discussion of the causes of the improper payments identified, actions taken to correct those causes, and results of the actions taken to address those causes;

"(2) a statement of whether the agency has the information systems and other infrastructure it needs in order to reduce improper payments to minimal cost-effective levels;

"(3) if the agency does not have such systems and infrastructure, a description of the resources the agency has requested in its budget submission to obtain the necessary information systems and infrastructure; and

"(4) a description of the steps the agency has taken to ensure that agency managers (including the agency head) are held accountable for reducing improper payments.

"(d) Definitions.-For the purposes of this section:

"(1) Agency.-The term 'agency' means an executive agency, as that term is defined in section 102 of title 31, United States Code.

"(2) Improper payment.-The term 'improper payment'-

"(A) means any payment that should not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount (including overpayments and underpayments) under statutory, contractual, administrative, or other legally applicable requirements; and

"(B) includes any payment to an ineligible recipient, any payment for an ineligible service, any duplicate payment, payments for services not received, and any payment that does not account for credit for applicable discounts.

"(3) Payment.-The term 'payment' means any payment (including a commitment for future payment, such as a loan guarantee) that is-

"(A) made by a Federal agency, a Federal contractor, or a governmental or other organization administering a Federal program or activity; and

"(B) derived from Federal funds or other Federal resources or that will be reimbursed from Federal funds or other Federal resources.

"(e) Application.-This section-

"(1) applies with respect to the administration of programs, and improper payments under programs, in fiscal years after fiscal year 2002; and

"(2) requires the inclusion of estimates under subsection (b)(2) only in annual budget submissions for fiscal years after fiscal year 2003.

"(f) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.-Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 26, 2002], the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement the requirements of this section."

¹ So in original. The period probably should not appear.