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B-332619 1 (2020-12-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaecdz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G ALO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 B-332619 December 15, 2020 The President The White House Subject: Violation of the Time Limit Imposed by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998: Chief Financial Officer, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 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 Act) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with respect to the Chief Financial Officer position. Pub. L. No. 105-277, div. C, title I, 112 Stat. 2681-611 (Oct. 21, 1998), as amended, 5 U.S.C. §§ 3345-3349d. Specifically, we are reporting that the service of David Bloom as Acting Chief Financial Officer from April 3, 2020, until on or about October 19, 2020, was in violation of the Vacancies Act. Because no one is currently using the acting title for this position, there is no continuing violation. The Vacancies Act establishes requirements for temporarily authorizing an acting official to perform the functions and duties of certain vacant positions that require presidential appointment and Senate confirmation. Generally, the Vacancies Act limits the service of an acting official to 210 days beginning on the date the vacancy occurs. 5 U.S.C. § 3346(a). Under the provisions of section 3349(b), the Comptroller General is required, upon a determination that an acting official has served longer than the allowable period of service, to report such findings to Congress, the President, and the Office of Personnel Management. EPA reported to us that a vacancy in the position of Chief Financial Officer began on September 5, 2019,1 and that David Bloom was designated as the Acting Chief Financial Officer at that time. GAO's Executive Vacancy System. The 210-day period of permissible acting service ended on April 2, 2020, but the EPA website continued to list Mr. Bloom as the Acting Chief Financial Officer until on or about October 19, 2020. When we inquired about a potential violation of the permissible period of acting service, EPA acknowledged that the website mistakenly listed Mr. Bloom as Acting Chief Financial Officer after April 2, 2020, but explained that, 1 The vacancy began due to the resignation of Holly W. Greaves.

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