Gao Government Accountability Office Via Public Foreign

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 5, 2025, 9:10 PM

gao government accountability office via public foreign

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) gathers information to help Congress determine how effectively executive branch agencies are doing their jobs. The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress.[2] It is the supreme audit... It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability.[3] It is also known as the "congressional watchdog".[4] The agency is headed by the comptroller general of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president.[5] The commission consists of the following: The commission must recommend at least three individuals to the president, and the president may request that the commission recommend additional individuals.

The president then selects an individual from those recommended to nominate as the new comptroller general. The president's nomination must be confirmed by the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs before being voted on by the full Senate.[6] The current comptroller general is Gene Dodaro, who has served in the position since March 13, 2008.[5] The work of the GAO is done at the request of congressional committees or subcommittees or is mandated by public laws or committee reports. It also undertakes research under the authority of the comptroller general. It supports congressional oversight by:

The GAO also produces special publications on specific issues of general interest to many Americans, such as its report on the fiscal future of the United States, GAO's role in the federal bid protest... An official website of the United States government Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. GAO, headed by the Comptroller General of the United States, is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress.

As part of their mission to investigate how the Federal Government spends taxpayer dollars, they conduct evaluations of agencies’ information security policies and practices. (Government Accountability Office (GAO). About GAO - Overview.) The House Committee on Oversight and Reform working with GAO releases a scorecard every six months evaluating federal agencies’ implementation of FITARA. (House Committee on Oversight and Reform. FITARA 9.0. 12/11/2019.)

In 2004, GAO recommended to Congress in GAO-04-823 a restructuring of the IT management and reporting responsibilities for the CIO. The GAO identified the full scope of the CIO role and any needed revisions to the Clinger-Cohen Act to increase the efficiency and strength of this title in GAO-11-634. A 2017 GAO forum identified key tasks and actions to strengthen FITARA and enhance the CIO role. In 2018, GAO published a report GAO-18-93 with proposals to OMB and 24 federal agencies to increase CIO efficiency in fulfilling their responsibilities in each of six IT management areas. OMB released FITARA guidance requiring CAOs to accurately inform CIOs of IT contracts for revision and approval. GAO explored in GAO 18-42 the role of CIOs in reviewing and approving IT acquisitions.

In the findings, GAO strongly advised federal agencies to “involve the acquisition office in their process to identify IT acquisitions for CIO review, as required by OMB.” (GAO-18-42. Agencies Need to Involve Chief Information Officers in Reviewing Billions of Dollars in Acquisitions. January 2018.) Government Accountability Office (GAO), agency of the U.S. federal government that reports to Congress and bills itself as independent and nonpartisan. Founded in 1921 as the General Accounting Office, it was renamed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004.

The name change was intended in part to clarify the agency’s functions, among which accounting played, and still plays, only a small part. The agency is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 11 other offices in major cities across the United States. The GAO is assigned to monitor various governmental agencies and their expenses. It studies the effectiveness of governmental expenditures, focusing primarily on the executive branch. The GAO seeks to make government more accountable and more effective in managing programs and spending tax dollars. Because the GAO principally monitors the programs of the executive branch, it is specifically removed from the purview of the executive.

The comptroller general of the United States heads the GAO. A special congressional committee recommends candidates for comptroller general, and the president makes a nomination from the list; the nominee is then confirmed by the Senate for a single term of 15 years. The professional staff of the GAO is organized into teams covering single areas such as health care, defense capabilities and management, and acquisition and sourcing management. It issues reports on a broad range of topics related to government concerns, such as the food stamp program, minority representation in the federal workforce, and human trafficking. All of the GAO’s reports appear on its Web site, and the public may request free printed copies of the reports as well. The creation and dissemination of such a wide range of studies requires the GAO to have a staff of experts in many fields, including analysts, information technology specialists, financial auditors, economists, attorneys, and communication...

In spite of a long and generally well-maintained reputation for objectivity, the GAO has often come under criticism. Objections to the agency’s work generally pertain to the findings in specific reports rather than to the overall quality or objectivity of the agency. GAO’s reports give Congress timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can improve government operations and save taxpayers billions of dollars. GAO is best known for our reports that detail the findings of our evaluations and audits. Read our latest reports. In addition to our audit reports, we issue several other types of products.

Requests for GAO reports must come from congressional committees, subcommittees, or Members of Congress. In conjunction with Members of Congress, we developed our Congressional Protocols, which outline our policies and procedures for accepting and completing work. Please contact Congressional Relations or your committee’s Congressional Relations Advisor to request GAO work.

Gao Government Accountability Office Via Public Foreign

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