Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§1304 Loyalty investigations; reports; revolving fund

Title 5 › Part PART II— - CIVIL SERVICE FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - SPECIAL AUTHORITY › § 1304

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to do the loyalty investigations and reports called for by sections 272b, 281b(e), and 290a of title 22; section 1874(c) of title 42; and section 1203(e) of title 6, District of Columbia Code. If an OPM investigation finds information that makes a person’s loyalty doubtful, OPM must send the case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a full field investigation and get the FBI’s report. The President can order the FBI to handle group or class investigations instead of OPM when it is in the national interest. The Secretary of State can require the FBI to investigate certain highly important or sensitive positions. Agencies may pay OPM or the FBI back for investigations, training, or related services. Creates a revolving fund for OPM, without fiscal year limit, to pay for investigations, training, reimbursable personnel services, and Inspector General audits and oversight of those activities. The fund can only finance functions included in the budget sent to Congress each year. The fund’s capital comes from authorized appropriations and the value of assets transferred to the fund minus related liabilities. The fund is credited by agency advances and reimbursements and by property sales or damage payments. Any excess unspent money goes to the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. OPM must send a business-style budget to Congress that shows results for each funded activity and must include an Inspector General estimate for oversight costs, which cannot exceed .33 percent of OPM’s total requested budget authority. The Comptroller General will review the funded activities and report to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §1304

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Office of Personnel Management shall conduct the investigations and issue the reports required by the following statutes—
(1)section 272b, 281b(e), and 290a of title 22;
(2)section 1874(c) of title 42; and
(3)section 1203(e) of title 6, District of Columbia Code.
(b)When an investigation under subsection (a) of this section develops data indicating that the loyalty of the individual being investigated is questionable, the Office shall refer the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a full field investigation, a report of which shall be furnished to the Office for its information and appropriate action.
(c)When the President considers it in the national interest, he may have the investigations of a group or class, which are required by subsection (a) of this section, made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation rather than the Office.
(d)The investigation and report required by subsection (a) of this section shall be made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation rather than the Office for those specific positions which the Secretary of State certifies are of a high degree of importance or sensitivity.
(e)(1)A revolving fund is available, to the Office without fiscal year limitation, for financing investigations, training, and such other functions as the Office is authorized or required to perform on a reimbursable basis, including personnel management services performed at the request of individual agencies (which would otherwise be the responsibility of such agencies), or at the request of nonappropriated fund instrumentalities, and for the cost of audits, investigations, and oversight activities, conducted by the Inspector General of the Office, of the fund and the activities financed by the fund. However, the functions which may be financed in any fiscal year by the fund are restricted to those functions which are covered by the budget estimates submitted to the Congress for that fiscal year. To the maximum extent feasible, each individual activity shall be conducted generally on an actual cost basis over a reasonable period of time.
(2)The capital of the fund consists of the aggregate of—
(A)appropriations made to provide capital for the fund, which appropriations are hereby authorized, and
(B)the sum of the fair and reasonable value of such supplies, equipment, and other assets as the Office from time to time transfers to the fund (including the amount of the unexpended balances of appropriations or funds relating to activities the financing of which is transferred to the fund) less the amount of related liabilities, the amount of unpaid obligations, and the value of accrued annual leave of employees, which are attributable to the activities the financing of which is transferred to the fund.
(3)The fund shall be credited with—
(A)advances and reimbursements from available funds of the Office or other agencies, or from other sources, for those services and supplies provided at rates estimated by the Office as adequate to recover expenses of operation (including provision for accrued annual leave of employees and depreciation of equipment); and
(B)receipts from sales or exchanges of property, and payments for loss of or damage to property, accounted for under the fund.
(4)Any unobligated and unexpended balances in the fund which the Office determines to be in excess of amounts needed for activities financed by the fund shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
(5)(A)The Office shall prepare a business-type budget providing full disclosure of the results of operations for each of the functions performed by the Office and financed by the fund, and such budget shall be transmitted to the Congress and considered, in the manner prescribed by law for wholly owned Government corporations.
(B)Such budget shall include an estimate from the Inspector General of the Office of the amount required to pay the expenses to audit, investigate, and provide other oversight activities with respect to the fund and the activities financed by the fund.
(C)The amount requested by the Inspector General under subparagraph (B) shall not exceed .33 percent of the total budgetary authority requested by the Office under subparagraph (A).
(6)The Comptroller General of the United States shall, as a result of his periodic reviews of the activities financed by the fund, report and make such recommendations as he deems appropriate to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service of the House of Representatives.
(f)An agency may use available appropriations to reimburse the Office or the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the cost of investigations, training, and functions performed for them under this section, or to make advances toward their cost. These advances and reimbursements shall be credited directly to the applicable appropriations of the Office or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(g)This section does not affect the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate espionage, sabotage, or subversive acts.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large (b)–(d)5 U.S.C. 655.Apr. 5, 1952, ch. 159, § 1 (provisos), 66 Stat. 44.
July 31, 1953, ch. 283, § 9, 67 Stat. 241. (e)5 U.S.C. 657.
June 5, 1952, ch. 369, § 701 (par. under “Civil Service Commission”), 66 Stat. 107. (f)[Uncodified].Apr. 5, 1952, ch. 159, § 4, 66 Stat. 44. (g)5 U.S.C. 656.Apr. 5, 1952, ch. 159, § 3, 66 Stat. 44. Subsection (a) is based on section 1 of the Act of
April 5, 1952, as amended, and is added for clarity. In subsection (a), the reference to section 10(b)(5)(B)(i) and (B)(ii) of the Act of
August 1, 1946 (60 Stat. 766) is omitted because of the amendment of the Act of
April 5, 1952, by the Act of
July 31, 1953, ch. 283, 67 Stat. 240, and the reenactment of the provisions of the Act of
April 5, 1952, insofar as they relate to the Atomic Energy Commission as section 145 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 942; 42 U.S.C. 2165). The references to section 1(2) of the Act of
May 22, 1947 (61 Stat. 125), section 1 of the joint resolution of
May 21, 1947 (61 Stat. 125), and section 110(c) of the Act of
April 3, 1948 (62 Stat. 137) are omitted as these Acts were repealed by the Act of Aug. 26, 1954, ch. 937 § 542(a) (1), (2), and (4), 68 Stat. 861. Reference to section 510 of the Mutual Security Act of 1951 (65 Stat. 381) is omitted because this section was replaced by section 531 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 859) and the latter was repealed by the Act of Sept. 4, 1961, Pub. L. 87–195, § 642(2), 75 Stat. 460. In subsection (d), the references to section 10(b)(5)(B)(i) and (ii) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, section 510 of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, a majority of the members of the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Director of Mutual Security (which was changed to Director of the International Cooperation Administration on authority of section 8 of 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 7, 67 Stat. 641, and Executive Order 10610 of
May 9, 1955) are omitted because of the disposition of the two sections as explained with reference to subsection (a). In subsection (e), the words “There is established” are omitted as executed. In subsection (g), the reference to statutes other than this section is omitted because nothing in those statutes affect the responsibility in question. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1874(c) of title 42, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), which related to clearance of National Science Foundation personnel, was repealed by Pub. L. 96–516, § 21(b)(1), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 3010.

Amendments

2014—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 113–80, § 2(1), inserted “, and for the cost of audits, investigations, and oversight activities, conducted by the Inspector General of the Office, of the fund and the activities financed by the fund” before period at end of first sentence. Subsec. (e)(5). Pub. L. 113–80, § 2(2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpars. (B) and (C). 1996—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 104–208 inserted “, including personnel management services performed at the request of individual agencies (which would otherwise be the responsibility of such agencies), or at the request of nonappropriated fund instrumentalities” before period at end of first sentence. 1995—Subsec. (e)(6). Pub. L. 104–66 struck out before period at end “at least once every three years”. 1994—Subsec. (e)(6). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service of the House” for “Committees on Post Office and Civil Service of the Senate and House”. 1984—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 98–224 struck out cl. (i) designation and struck out cl. (ii) which provided that participation fees imposed by the President’s Commission on Executive Exchange for private sector participation in its Executive Exchange Program be collected and credited to the fund, and be available for the costs of education and related travel of exchanged executives, for printing without regard to section 501 of title 44, and, in such amounts as specified in appropriations Acts, for entertainment expenses. See section 4109(d) of this title. 1983—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 97–412 designated existing provisions as cl. (i) and added cl. (ii). 1979—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 96–60 struck out reference to section 1434 of title 22. 1978—Subsecs. (a) to (f). Pub. L. 95–454 substituted “Office of Personnel Management” for “Civil Service Commission” and “Office” for “Commission” wherever appearing. 1971—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 91–648 struck out in par. (1) “of $4,000,000” after “revolving fund” and inserted in par. (2)(A) “, which appropriations are hereby authorized”. 1969—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 91–189, § 1(a), increased the scope of reimbursable services for which the fund may be used, restricted reimbursement to services which were included in the budget estimates submitted to Congress for that fiscal year, inserted a list of components which comprise the fund, specifically listed those items that would be credited directly to the capital fund, required that a budget be prepared by the Commission, and directed the Comptroller General as a result of the activities financed to make recommendations to the committees on Post Office and Civil Service of the Senate and House of Representatives at least once every three years. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 91–189, § 1(b), authorized an agency to use available appropriations to reimburse the Commission or the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the cost of training and functions performed.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Governmental Affairs of Senate changed to Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of Senate, effective Jan. 4, 2005, by Senate Resolution No. 445, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Oct. 9, 2004.

Effective Date

of 1983 Amendment Pub. L. 97–412, § 1(b), Jan. 3, 1983, 96 Stat. 2047, provided that: “The authority granted in subsection (a) [amending this section] shall terminate on December 31, 1983.”

Effective Date

of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–60 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 209 of Pub. L. 96–60, set out as a note under section 1471 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.

Effective Date

of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–454 effective 90 days after Oct. 13, 1978, see section 907 of Pub. L. 95–454, set out as a note under section 1101 of this title. Abolition of House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service Committee on Post Office and Civil Service of House of Representatives abolished by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995. References to Committee on Post Office and Civil Service treated as referring to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, see section 1(b) of Pub. L. 104–14, set out as a note preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress. Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Government Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 6, 1999. Committee on Government Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Reform of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2019. Committee on Oversight and Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Accountability of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2023.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 1304

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73