DOJ Finalizes HAVANA Act Payments for Its Employees and Dependents
ANALYSIS · October 27, 2026
Slug: implementation-havana-act-2021
This document is a final rule (91 FR 67476) published by the Department of Justice on October 27, 2026. It adopts with minor title and date changes an April 19, 2024 interim final rule that implements section 3 of the HAVANA Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-46, codified at 22 U.S.C. 2680b(i)), as amended by Public Law 119-60 on December 18, 2025. The rule authorizes the Department, in its discretion, to make one-time, non-taxable lump-sum payments to current and former DOJ employees and their covered dependents who suffered qualifying brain injuries on or after September 11, 2001. It does not create new legal rights, guarantee payments, or cover non-DOJ personnel.
Primary sources
- Federal Register Documents (October 27, 2026): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/27/2026-21923/implementation-of-havana-act-of-2021
The Department of Justice published a final rule that adopts its 2024 interim final rule implementing the HAVANA Act of 2021. No public comments were received during the original or reopened comment periods. The rule allows DOJ to pay current and former employees and their dependents for qualifying brain injuries that occurred on or after September 11, 2001, in any location, provided the injury meets statutory and regulatory criteria and funds are appropriated.
Core Tension
The rule frames itself as fulfilling congressional direction to compensate victims of Anomalous Health Incidents with a clear, consistent standard modeled on the State Department’s approach. In practice it gives the Department full discretion over eligibility, incident designation, payment amounts, and whether any payment is made at all; payments are capped at Level III of the Executive Schedule, limited to appropriated funds on a first-come first-served basis, and exclude injuries resulting from willful misconduct. The earliest eligibility date was updated from January 1, 2016 to September 11, 2001 per the 2025 statutory change. Open questions remain about how many claims DOJ expects, how it will designate “other incidents,” and whether funding will be sufficient.
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