The United States cannot be sued in a tort action unless it is clear that Congress has waived the government's sovereign immunity and authorized suit under the FTCA. FTCA is a comprehensive legislative scheme by which the United States has waived its sovereign immunity to allow civil suits for actions arising out of negligent acts of agents of the United States. The Federal Tort Claims Act FTCA includes specific, enumerated exceptions. If an exception applies, the United States may not be sued and litigation based upon an exempt claim.
Among the exceptions to the FTCA most frequently applied are the "discretionary function"*exception, and the exceptions for several specific kinds of torts, including intentional torts such as libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, and interference with contract rights. A federal employee is immune to lawsuits so long as the attorney general certifies that he was, at the time of the incident, acting within his scope of employment. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--> <!--[endif]-->
*** discretionary function"* has a two-prong test: (1) whether the challenged conduct involved an element of judgment or choice and (2) whether the decision involved was the kind the discretionary function exception was designed to shield.