A piece of legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., passed by a voice vote in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week and will now advance to the full Senate for approval, according to a news release.
The Government Accounting Office Improvement Act is designed to strengthen the powers of the GAO, a legislative branch agency that investigates Congressional performance and issues financial audits for government spending.
“What makes more sense than giving our watchdogs the tools they need to protect our tax dollars?” McCaskill said in a news release. “We must hold people accountable and root out waste, fraud and abuse at federal agencies. If this proposal becomes law it will be a victory for anyone who is concerned about federal spending.”
The bill largely is aimed to curtail recent efforts to limit the GAO’s ability to obtain information from governmental agencies that is necessary for it to complete its investigative duties. According to the release, the legislation would strengthen the GAO’s authority by giving them the ability to take legal action if a federal agency is withholding information pertinent to GAO investigations.
“(Sen. McCaskill’s) GAO Improvement Act gives the Government Accountability Office statutory language to point to when federal agencies balk at providing responses to GAO requests,” McCaskill’s spokesman John LaBombard said. “We do not anticipate this to dramatically change the way GAO operates as they typically work to find ways to accommodate agency concerns. But in those instances where federal agencies remain resistant to GAO requests, we will have made it clear through statutory language that the GAO has an existing right to access the information of federal agencies.”
In 2002, the GAO sued the National Energy Policy Development Group, a task force created by former President George W. Bush and headed by former Vice President Dick Cheney when the NEPDG refused to grant GAO access to their records. The lawsuit was dropped before the two branches of government crashed, but many believe the affair was a slap in the face to GAO authority.
“(Walker v. Cheney) undermines GAO’s ability to successfully carry out the investigative responsibilities delegated to it by Congress as well as Congress’ constitutional prerogatives to determine how best to carry out its oversight responsibilities,” LaBombard said. “This legislation is the focus of Claire’s effort to make sure the GAO has the tools necessary to do its jobs.
Identical legislation was also passed by a unanimous voice vote in the same committee last year, but the congressional session ended before it could be brought up for vote before the full Senate.
“Unfortunately, by the time Claire’s bill was reported out of committee last year, there was little time left on the calendar to move the bill on the floor,” LaBombard said. “We believe we’ll be able to get the full report of the bill completed and seek that it be passed before the end of the 112th Congress.”
