Under fire, GAO explains its mission to Congress

The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have made no secret about their displeasure with the Government Accountability Office.

GAO was created in 1921 as Congress’s auditor to help track federal spending. In that role, it has criticized every administration for actions that do not align with federal laws and the Constitution.

GAO officials often testify before Congress and the agency issues numerous reports on a wide range of topics. Congressional requests often spark GAO investigations.

The agency has no enforcement powers – its bid protest decisions come with recommendations, not edicts – but GAO reports traditionally carry a lot of weight.

During the Trump administration, GAO has investigated and ruled on a plethora of topics ranging from IRS training needs to the effectiveness of Agriculture Department communications with dairy farmers.

Several reports have criticized the Trump administration and its aggressive moves to cut federal spending through alleged violations of the Impoundment Act. The administration has pushed back on those criticisms.

In May, the White House threatened to reduce its level of cooperation with the GAO after the watchdog agency said the administration broke the law by cancelling a $5 billion electric vehicle program.

Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, has called GAO investigations “non-events with no consequence. Rearview mirror stuff.”

Vought has also attacked GAO as a partisan organization. In July, House Republicans proposed cutting GAO’s budget in half.

GAO has since responded to the criticism with a blog post describing what it does.

Released Thursday, the "How Does GAO Serve Congress?" blog is not an impassioned defense of the agency. But the blog is a primer that explains why GAO does what it does and shows statistics on its impact.

Here are some highlights:

• 95% of its work is mandated or requested by Congress. Mandates are provisions in legislation that require a GAO study. Requests come from committee leadership. They each represent half of the 95%.
   
• GAO receives more than 600 new requests and mandates each year.
   
• GAO has protocols it developed with Congress to prioritize the requests and mandates. The protocols also make it clear that GAO gives equal weight to requests from both political parties.
   
• GAO conducts program evaluations, audits, forensic investigations, technology assessments and issues legal decision.

In federal fiscal year 2024, GAO’s budget was $811.9 million and the agency claims savings for the government of $66.7 billion.

The blog also emphasizes GAO’s nonpartisan approach and the tone definitely emphasizes that it intends to stay above the criticism.

The closest GAO comes to directly addressing the recent criticisms is in the conclusion: “We can be counted on for calling it like we see it, regardless of who is asking.”

But the fact that GAO published this blog at all speaks volumes about how seriously it takes threat to its operations.