Thursday, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced that their legislation to increase oversight of taxpayer dollars spent by federal agencies has advanced out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and will be eligible for consideration by the full Senate. The Good Accounting Obligation in Government (GAO-IG) Act requires federal agencies to provide annual reports to Congress on the status of implementing recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“By making our federal government more accountable, this legislation will help ensure federal agencies are better serving taxpayers and saving money,” said Senator Young. “I’m extremely pleased that our bill has passed out of committee and look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that the GAO-IG Act becomes law.”
“This bipartisan bill would help Congress hold federal agencies accountable, improve transparency, and save money for taxpayers,” said Senator Warren. “I’m glad to see it move forward – Congress should pass this bill and help make Washington work better for American families.”
As of 2016, there were more than 15,000 open and unimplemented federal agency recommendations from the IG, with a potential savings of $87 billion. Currently, GAO has over 8,000 open federal agency recommendations. For years, federal agencies have neglected to act on these recommendations. The GAO-IG Act requires agencies to report on the status of such recommendations as part of their annual budget justification. This includes providing a timeline for implementation of outstanding recommendations, or providing justification for not implementing the recommendations.
The GAO-IG Act expands on legislation previously introduced by Senator Young that prescribes the same accountability measures to the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Education.
