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B-196181 1 (1980-09-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabjwf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 




GAO
United States General Accounting Office            Office of
Washington, DC 20548                               General Counsel
                                                   In Reply
                                                   Refer to: B-196181

                                  September 23, 1980

 S. Neil Hosenball, Esq.
 General Counsel                         f     ra    e  /     -
 National Aeronautics and
   Space Administration
 400 Maryland Avenue, SW
 Washington, DC 20546

 Dear Mr. Hosenball:

      Your letter of September 17, 1980, refers to the
 question of recovery by NASA of amounts already paid to
 senior executives as performance awards under 5 U.S.C.
 5384 during fiscal year 1980. In response to your request
 that I review the matter, this is to advise that in my
 opinion NASA does not have a legally supportable basis for
 effecting recoveries.

      As I understand it, NASA paid awards to some 46 percent
 of its personnel holding senior executive positions which
 payments when made were within the 50 percent limitation of
 the Civil Service Reform Act and OPM guidance. The fact that
 subsequent legislation restricted performance award authority
 to 25 percent of such positions does not serve to affect author-
 ized awards made prior to the later enactment,notwithstanding the
 fact that the more limited authority was spelled out in terms ap-
 plicable to the full fiscal year during which the awards in
 question were granted.

      As you know, there are any number of court opinions and
 opinions of the Comptroller General in support of that conclu-
 sion. It would surprise me greatly if a court were to rule
 otherwise in regard to the instant situation.

                                   Sincerely yours,




                                   Milton J. ololar
                                   General Counsel

51217

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