Government Accountability Office (GAO)

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an agency of the U.S. federal government that reports to Congress and bills itself as independent and nonpartisan. Founded in 1921 as the General Accounting Office, its was renamed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004.

The GAO is assigned to monitor various governmental agencies and their expenses. It studies the effectiveness of governmental expenditures, focusing primarily on the executive branch. The GAO seeks to make government more accountable and effective in managing programs and spending tax dollars. The current budget for the GAO is approximately $500 million per year, and the office has a staff of slightly more than 3,000 people.

Because the GAO principally monitors the programs of the executive branch, it is specifically removed from the purview of ...