Federal Tort Claims Act FTCA

Before 1946, people injured by federal employees, such as by a mail truck, could seek payment only by asking Congress to pass a private bill. The Federal Tort Claims Act, enacted August 2, 1946, after decades of debate and a year after an Army bomber crashed into the Empire State Building, let people sue the United States for harm caused by federal employees acting within the scope of their jobs, under the law of the state where it happened. A 1988 law made such suits the exclusive remedy, substituting the United States for the employee.

A person must first file an administrative claim with the agency within two years. If the agency denies it or does not respond within six months, the person can sue in federal district court, where a judge, not a jury, decides the case, and punitive damages are not allowed. Common claims involve car crashes, medical malpractice at VA hospitals and other federal facilities, and injuries on federal property.

The law has broad exceptions. The government cannot be sued for discretionary policy choices, for most intentional wrongs such as assault or false arrest unless committed by law enforcement officers, for combat activities, or for losses of mail. Under the Feres doctrine of 1950, service members cannot sue for injuries related to their service, a rule critics have long asked Congress or the Court to revisit. In Martin v. United States in 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court revived a suit by a family whose home was raided by mistake by FBI agents, sending it back to lower courts.