GAO Chief: Budget Cut Would Have ‘Grave’ Impact
The head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told senior House Appropriations Committee leaders in a June 25 letter that a 48 percent cut to GAO’s budget approved earlier this week by the committee’s Legislative Branch Subcommittee would have “grave, pervasive” effects on the agency’s ability to serve as the investigative arm of Congress.
House Republicans Advance Plan to Halve GAO’s Funding
“Monday evening, House Legislative Branch appropriators voted 6 to 4 on party lines to cut GAO’s funding by 50% and reduce the Library of Congress’s funding by 12%. This would lay waste to Congress’s watchdogs and information experts. The traditionally bipartisan appropriations subcommittee had little debate and, according to one member, no opportunity to offer amendments.
Full committee markup is scheduled for Thursday. Beyond eviscerating GAO’s funding and decimating the Library’s, the text of the legislation contains two unwelcome surprises. It prevents GAO from filing civil suit concerning the administration’s unconstitutional impoundments of appropriated funding. It also restricts GAO’s ability to operate independently. I discuss these issues below. I also share newly-obtained data on how these cuts affect congressional committees.
Based on a preliminary review of the numbers, GAO [Government Accountability Office] will become unable to respond to the vast majority of requests from committee chairs and ranking members for investigations. The bill would prevent GAO from using its statutory authority to bring a civil lawsuit against the White House should it determine the administration unlawfully impounded funds. GAO will be unable to exercising its statutory authorities unless Congress first adopts a concurrent resolution…”
Dutch accountants fined millions by US regulator for exam fraud
The Dutch arms of three major accountancy firms – Deloitte, PwC and EY – have been fined millions of dollars after hundreds of staff in the Netherlands were found to have cheated in mandatory professional exams.
