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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§1591 Reimbursement for Travel and Transportation Expenses When Accompanying Members of Congress

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 81 — CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES › § 1591

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows an agency Secretary to pay back a civilian employee who travels with a Member of Congress or a congressional employee for the actual travel and transportation costs they incur. Payment cannot be more than the official congressional travel rate and is allowed only when that Secretary directs or approves the member’s trip. Member of Congress: a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate to the House, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Congressional employee: someone who works for a Member of Congress or for Congress. Secretary concerned: the agency Secretary in charge; includes the Secretary of Defense for civilian Department of Defense employees other than a military department.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1591

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary concerned may authorize reimbursement to a civilian employee who is accompanying a Member of Congress or a congressional employee on official travel for actual travel and transportation expenses incurred for such travel.
(b)The allowance provided in subsection (a) may be paid—
(1)at a rate that does not exceed the rate approved for official congressional travel; and
(2)only when the travel of the member is directed or approved by the Secretary concerned.
(c)In this section:
(1)The term “Member of Congress” means a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
(2)The term “congressional employee” means an employee of a Member of Congress or an employee of Congress.
(3)The term “Secretary concerned” includes the Secretary of Defense with respect to civilian employees of the Department of Defense other than a military department.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title VI, § 617(c), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1097, as amended by Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VI, § 631(f)(4)(B), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1465; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, § 1076(a)(9), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1948, provided that: “Subsection (h) of section 474 of title 37, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), and section 1591 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (b)), shall apply with respect to travel performed after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 1987].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1591

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102