Executive Summary
In December 2025, Gene Dodaro’s term as comptroller general of the United States concluded. Under federal law, a bipartisan congressional commission will recommend candidates to serve as the next comptroller general and lead the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to the president, who has the authority to nominate an individual to be considered by the Senate. While Dodaro’s term has expired, the vacancies in 2008 and 1996 started a nomination process that took more than two years to complete. The upcoming vacancy and looming debate provide an opportunity for Congress to reform GAO for the twenty-first century.
Over the past century, GAO has seen its mission and organization evolve and has continued to provide value to Congress and the American people by serving as the nation’s top watchdog. A review of this history indicates that the organization is most effective when it views itself strictly as an agent of Congress that aggressively investigates waste and inefficiency. Over the past quarter century, GAO’s work has contributed to roughly $1.5 trillion in financial benefits for the U.S. government. Over the past 15 years, GAO’s annual reviews of duplication across federal programs have resulted in more than $700 billion in savings.
Today, GAO is at a crossroads. GAO has faced increasing opposition from the Trump administration and some congressional Republicans, due largely to concerns about GAO’s recent actions related to its congressionally mandated responsibilities under the Impoundment Control Act and the Congressional Review Act.
On Capitol Hill, some members and staff question the usefulness of the reports and recommendations provided by GAO. During the 117th Congress, a bipartisan select committee passed a recommendation that called for a review of congressional satisfaction with GAO’s work. Some evidence indicates that GAO’s work is not having the intended impact. At least a quarter of GAO’s recommendations are routinely ignored. As of December 2025, more than 5,200 open recommendations have not been addressed. GAO maintains a “high risk list” of “government operations with serious vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of transformation,” which currently includes 37 areas, including nine items identified in the last century. Some question whether GAO is overly cautious in its approach to evaluating federal programs and activities. There is a long-running joke among congressional staff and even GAO employees and alumni that its reports typically include balanced framing, such as “progress made, challenges remain,” which requires Congress to probe deep into the reports’ pages and footnotes to actually understand potential problems identified through program evaluations.
GAO’s own metrics show declining impact. As of early December 2025, GAO’s own performance metrics reveal a recent decline in the organization’s return on investment (ROI), as well as its ability to encourage federal agencies to implement their recommendations in a timely manner between 2019 and 2024. This decline has occurred despite bipartisan reforms enacted by Congress over the past decade aimed at increasing GAO’s ROI and effectiveness. Some question whether these trends are linked with GAO’s transition to widespread remote work, which persists today and was codified by a 2023 agreement with its labor union; according to GAO staff, the headquarters building is often largely empty.
The upcoming nomination of a new comptroller general offers a chance to put GAO back on the right track. As Congress and President Trump prepare for the recommendation and nomination of the next comptroller general, we recommend the following reforms to strengthen GAO’s effectiveness and value for Congress and the American people:
1. Reaffirm GAO’s core mission and explicitly prioritize fiscal stewardship.
Congress should update GAO’s mission to emphasize its role in supporting congressional oversight, auditing, and program evaluation, with a focus on identifying opportunities to strengthen federal management and efficiency, reducing improper spending, and addressing the nation’s unsustainable fiscal path. GAO’s statutory charge should explicitly include a forward-looking responsibility to help Congress achieve substantial cost savings and to anticipate and implement long-term fiscal reforms.
2. Empower the next comptroller general with authority, autonomy, resources and a mandate for institutional renewal.
Congress and the White House should jointly select a qualified comptroller general with bipartisan support who is committed to leading GAO into its next chapter and focusing on high-impact oversight and fiscal stewardship. This requires strengthening the office’s autonomy in strategic direction, human capital management, information-access authority, and the provision of resources to help leverage technology to modernize the organization’s approach to oversight.
3. Remove politically charged enforcement duties—especially under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA)—and maintain strict neutrality under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
GAO should no longer serve as Congress’s enforcement arm under the ICA, including the authority to litigate against the executive branch. Congress should either reclaim that authority or establish expedited procedures for congressional enforcement. GAO should also narrow its CRA role to statutory requirements only, refraining from discretionary “observations” that can entangle it in partisan disputes. Similarly, Congress should consider ending GAO’s role in adjudicating contractual bid protests, a procurement function that pulls GAO into operational acquisition decisions, and reassign this responsibility to an executive agency such as the General Services Administration.
4. Direct GAO to focus on high-impact audits and program evaluations, supported by transparent performance metrics and independent review.
Congress should work with GAO to reduce low-impact mandates, authorize the comptroller general to decline certain requests, and strengthen GAO’s capacity to prioritize work with the highest expected fiscal returns or managerial improvements. Moreover, GAO could review its history and consider the approach of “results audits” during the tenure of Comptroller General Staats to focus evaluations on a review of whether a federal program achieved what Congress intended. This would involve complementing a program evaluation with a review of the congressional record, including member statements, legislative hearings, and committee reports. This would ensure that program evaluations are more relevant for Congress. GAO should institutionalize third-party review (such as by the Congressional Budget Office) of its ROI estimates.
5. Require GAO to produce clearer, more actionable recommendations for Congress and federal agencies.
GAO should establish deadlines on its recommendations for federal agencies. In addition, GAO should include estimates of potential financial benefits and taxpayer savings that can be achieved by enacting recommendations for federal agencies or its matters for congressional consideration. GAO should also develop a recurring line of work modeled on the Congressional Budget Office’s “Options for Reducing the Deficit,” focusing on, for example, eliminating duplicative or ineffective programs, targeted management improvements, program integrity measures, and deficit-reduction options. These products should identify discrete legislative actions, potential rescissions, and cross-agency reforms, supported by transparent cost-savings estimates and implementation timelines.
6. Strengthen structured collaboration between GAO and Congress and embed GAO expertise within committees.
Congress should integrate GAO personnel into committee work through expanded details, with the goal of providing at least one detailee to every committee. Committees should also institutionalize annual oversight hearings focused on major areas of GAO’s work—for example, annual hearings on open GAO recommendations, high-risk areas, and opportunities to achieve fiscal savings within the committees’ jurisdiction.
7. Establish a statutory requirement for annual comptroller general recommendations on rescissions and fiscal savings opportunities.
Congress should require the comptroller general to provide annual deficit-reduction and rescissions recommendations to both Congress and the White House. This would provide the comptroller general with a politically insulated mandate to provide actionable recommendations for the executive and legislative branches to address the nation’s pressing fiscal challenges.
8. Expand GAO’s partnership capacity with federal agencies and state governments to strengthen program integrity and reduce mismanagement.
Congress should provide statutory authority and direct GAO to detail personnel to federal and state agencies to establish federal and state intergovernmental relationships to reduce fraud, improper payments, and achieve fiscal savings. In working with state governments, it should offer training and best practices to state audit agencies. GAO should use tools such as the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program to coordinate modern, continuous oversight efforts.
9. Require federal departments and agencies to fully cooperate with GAO’s oversight and information requests.
The White House should issue guidance requiring timely and complete responses to GAO inquiries. Congress should codify strengthened information-access requirements, building on the 2017 GAO Access and Oversight Act, and use its legislative and appropriations powers to support GAO. Strengthening cooperation would protect GAO’s nonpartisan role and ensure that it can deliver credible, high-impact oversight.
10. Expect the next comptroller general to restore bipartisan credibility by avoiding unnecessary political conflict.
While GAO must remain independent, the next comptroller general should proactively avoid actions that insert GAO into partisan disputes unless explicitly required by law. This balancing act—vigorous oversight with disciplined neutrality—is essential to restoring bipartisan trust, reducing political friction, and enabling GAO to focus on high-impact fiscal and management challenges and providing nonpartisan support to Congress to address the nation’s governance challenges.
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Throughout its more than century-long history, Congress has recognized the need to review and reform GAO’s mission to meet the times. In 2026, Congress should consider how best to focus the work of GAO and use its $900 million in annual funding and more than 3,500 employees to best meet the needs of the legislative branch and the American people. As Congress and President Trump work to identify, nominate, and confirm the next comptroller general, Congress should hold hearings and reauthorize GAO to update its mission for the twenty-first century.
