2 U.S.C. § 687
Section 687 · Suits by Comptroller General
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case 626 F. Supp. 1374 - Synar v. United States (1986)
Most recently applied in Rogers v. United States (December 1987)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
If, under this chapter, budget authority is required to be made available for obligation and such budget authority is not made available for obligation, the Comptroller General is hereby expressly empowered, through attorneys of his own selection, to bring a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to require such budget authority to be made available for obligation, and such court is hereby expressly empowered to enter in such civil action, against any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States, any decree, judgment, or order which may be necessary or appropriate to make such budget authority available for obligation. No civil action shall be brought by the Comptroller General under this section until the expiration of 25 calendar days of continuous session of the Congress following the date on which an explanatory statement by the Comptroller General of the circumstances giving rise to the action contemplated has been filed with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 1406 of Title 31 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 31, Money and Finance, by Pub. L. 97–258, §1, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 877.
Amendments
1987—Pub. L. 100–119 substituted “If, under this chapter” for “If, under section 683(b) or 684(b) of this title”.
1984—Pub. L. 98–620 struck out provision requiring that the courts give precedence to civil actions brought under this section, and to appeals and writs from decisions in such actions, over all other civil actions, appeals, and writs.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–620 not applicable to cases pending on Nov. 8, 1984, see section 403 of Pub. L. 98–620, set out as an Effective Date note under section 1657 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Reaffirmation
For provision reaffirming this section, see section 206(c) of Pub. L. 100–119, set out as a note under section 686 of this title.