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GAO-25-107675 1 (2025-07-14)

handle is hein.gao/faaenfmtwv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G A O U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 July 14, 2025 The Honorable Ted Cruz Chairman The Honorable Maria Cantwell Ranking Member Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation United States Senate The Honorable Sam Graves Chairman The Honorable Rick Larsen Ranking Member Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives The Honorable Ted Budd United States Senate FAA Enforcement: Waivers of Rights to Recover Attorney's Fees in Settlements In the United States, parties in litigation are generally responsible for their own legal expenses regardless of whether they win or lose the case. The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) is an exception to this general rule in that it allows individuals in covered proceedings to which the federal government is a party to recover their attorney's fees and expenses, under certain circumstances.1 EAJA was enacted in part to help prevent the expense involved in seeking review of, or defending against, unreasonable government actions from deterring certain individuals from doing so. To be eligible to recover attorney's fees, individuals must have prevailed over the federal government and met other requirements. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has required individuals who hold FAA-issued certificates to waive their rights to recover attorney's fees and expenses under EAJA as a condition of settling enforcement actions FAA has taken against them. FAA issues certificates that allow their holders to perform certain aviation-related roles, such as pilots or mechanics. FAA can and sometimes must take legal enforcement actions against certificate holders who may have violated certain statutes, regulations, or FAA orders. Section 340 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 includes a provision for us to examine FAA's use of waivers of rights to seek attorney's fees under EAJA as a condition of settlement of certain legal enforcement actions against pilots, flight engineers, mechanics, and repair 1See Pub. L. No. 96-481, tit. II, 94 Stat. 2325 (1980) (primarily codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. § 504; 28 U.S.C. § 2412). GAO-25-107675 FAA Enforcement Page 1

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