---
kind: "section"
citation: "45 C.F.R. § 1174.36"
title: "45"
number: "1174.36"
heading: "Finalizing the initial decision."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/45/1174.36"
---

# §1174.36. Finalizing the initial decision.

- (a) Thirty days after issuance, the ALJ's initial decision shall become the authority's final decision and shall bind all parties, unless any party timely files a motion for reconsideration or any defendant adjudged to have submitted a false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim or statement timely appeals to the authority head, as set forth in [§ 1174.37](/cfr/45/1174.37.md).
- (b) If the ALJ disposes of a motion for reconsideration by denying it or by issuing a revised initial decision, the ALJ's order on the motion for reconsideration shall become the authority's final decision thirty days after the ALJ issues the order, unless a defendant that is adjudged to have submitted a false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim or statement timely appeals to the authority head, as set forth in [§ 1174.37](/cfr/45/1174.37.md).

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 3801-3812; 5 U.S.C. App. 8G(a)(2).

### Source

Source: 86 FR 44628, Aug. 13, 2021, unless otherwise noted.