United States Government Accountability Office


The United States Government Accountability Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress in an independent and nonpartisan capacity. It is headquartered in Washington, DC at the US General Accounting Office Building in Judiciary Square, and has a headquarters office annex at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill.
The GAO is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog".
The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The current Acting Comptroller General is Orice Williams Brown, who has served in the position since December 30th 2025.

Powers of GAO

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:
  • auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
  • investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
  • reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
  • performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
  • issuing legal decisions and opinions;
  • advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective.
As a result of its work, GAO produces:
  • reports and written correspondence;
  • testimonies and statements for the record, where the former are delivered orally by one or more GAO senior executives at a congressional hearing and the latter are provided for inclusion in the Congressional Record;
  • briefings, which are usually given directly to congressional staff members;
  • legal decisions and opinions resolving bid protests and addressing issues of appropriations law as well as opinions on the scope and exercise of authority of federal officers;
  • science and technology assessments.
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 process, and critical issues for congressional consideration related to improving the nation's image abroad.

Organization

Appointment of Agency Executive

The comptroller general of the United States, the agency executive of the Government Accountability Office, 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. 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.

Agency Structure

The GAO is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and maintains an additional 11 field offices around the country. Each field office contains several mission teams, but not every mission team is represented at each field office.

Headquarters

Headquartered in Washington, DC, the GAO's main office is located at the US General Accounting Office Building in Judiciary Square; unlike most other federal government buildings it is directly owned and operated by the agency itself and is managed by EMCOR Government Services through a government contract, rather than the General Services Administration in order the prevent a conflict of interest with the executive branch agencies they audit; unlike other legislative branch agencies it is not operated by the Architect of the Capitol which manages the physical infrastructure for core buildings that are part of the United States Capitol Complex.
In addition, the headquarters office has an annex at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill that is managed by the Architect of the Capitol as one of the congressional office buildings that make up a core part the United States Capitol Complex.

Mission teams

The GAO is composed of 15 mission teams that work on reports in a given subject area. Missions teams are headed by a managing director which fall under the Senior Executive Service. The current slate of mission teams is:
  • Applied Research and Methods
  • Contracting and National Security Acquisitions
  • Defense Capabilities and Management
  • Education, Workforce, and Income Security
  • Financial Management and Assurance
  • Financial Markets and Community Investment
  • Forensic Audits and Investigative Service
  • Health Care
  • Homeland Security and Justice
  • Information Technology and Cybersecurity
  • International Affairs and Trade
  • Natural Resources and Environment
  • Physical Infrastructure
  • Science, Technology, Assessments, and Analytics
  • Strategic Issues

    Staff offices

In addition to its mission teams, the GAO also has 16 operations and staff components that support their work and carryout other agency functions, including its bid decisions.
  • Audit Policy and Quality Assurance
  • Chief Administrative Office
  • Congressional Relations
  • Continuous Process Improvement
  • Financial Management and Business Operations
  • Field Operations
  • Human Capital Office
  • Infrastructure Operations
  • Information Systems & Technology Services
  • Learning Center
  • Professional Development Program
  • Office of the General Counsel
  • Office of the Inspector General
  • Office of Opportunity & Inclusiveness
  • Office of Public Affairs
  • Strategic Planning and External Liaison

    History

The GAO was established as the General Accounting Office by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. The act required the head of the GAO to: According to the GAO's current mission statement, the agency exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.
The name was changed in 2004 to the Government Accountability Office by the GAO Human Capital Reform Act to better reflect the mission of the office. The GAO's auditors conduct not only financial audits, but also engage in a wide assortment of performance audits.
Over the years, the GAO has been referred to as "The Congressional Watchdog" and "The Taxpayers' Best Friend" for its frequent audits and investigative reports that have uncovered waste and inefficiency in government. News media often draw attention to the GAO's work by publishing stories on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of its reports. Members of Congress also frequently cite the GAO's work in statements to the press, congressional hearings, and floor debates on proposed legislation. In 2007 the Partnership for Public Service ranked the GAO second on its list of the best places to work in the federal government and Washingtonian magazine included the GAO on its 2007 list of great places to work in Washington, a list that encompasses the public, private, and non-profit sectors.
The GAO is headed by the comptroller general of the U.S., a professional and non-partisan position in the U.S. government. The comptroller general is appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a fifteen-year, non-renewable term. The president selects a nominee from a list of at least three individuals recommended by an eight-member bipartisan, bicameral commission of congressional leaders. During such a term, the comptroller general has standing to pursue litigation to compel access to federal agency information. The comptroller general may not be removed by the president, but only by Congress through impeachment or joint resolution for specific reasons. Since 1921, there have been only eight comptrollers general, and no formal attempt has ever been made to remove a comptroller general.
Labor-management relations became fractious during the nine-year tenure of the seventh comptroller general, David M. Walker. On September 19, 2007, GAO analysts voted by a margin of two to one, in a 75% turnout, to establish the first union in the GAO's 86-year history. The analysts voted to affiliate with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a member union of the AFL–CIO. There are more than 1,800 analysts in the GAO analysts bargaining unit; the local voted to name itself IFPTE Local 1921, in honor of the date of the GAO's establishment. On February 14, 2008, the GAO analysts' union approved its first-ever negotiated pay contract with management; of just over 1,200 votes, 98% were in favor of the contract.
The GAO also establishes standards for audits of government organizations, programs, activities, and functions, and of government assistance received by contractors, nonprofit organizations, and other nongovernmental organizations. These standards, often referred to as Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, are to be followed by auditors and audit organizations when required by law, regulation, agreement, contract, or policy. These standards pertain to auditors' professional qualifications, the quality of audit effort, and the characteristics of professional and meaningful audit reports.
In 1992, the GAO hosted the XIV INCOSAI, the fourteenth triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.