Regarded as a key oversight mechanism by Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was established in 1921, initially known as the General Accounting Office. This agency is often dubbed an independent watchdog, crafted to deliver impartial audits and legal evaluations to Congress, highlighting how government operations align with legislative mandates.

At present, the GAO faces a precarious future. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro’s term is nearing its end in two months. According to the founding laws of the GAO, the comptroller general is appointed by the president for a 15-year tenure, with Senate approval required.

The current administration has shown a strong tendency to select appointees who exhibit unwavering loyalty to the president, rather than adherence to the Constitution, legal frameworks, or congressional directives. This could potentially weaken the government’s oversight capabilities.

Ironically, the timing seems advantageous for the administration. In August, the D.C. Court of Appeals issued a two-to-one decision stating that under the Impoundment Control Act, only the GAO has the authority to initiate lawsuits over spending violations. This excludes fired or furloughed federal workers, their agencies, unions, or affected publics from doing so.

Recently, The Washington Post highlighted that the president has capitalized on the current government shutdown to restructure or dismantle sections of the federal government, targeting what he refers to as “Democrat agencies” and dismissing thousands of employees associated with them.

The current shutdown only exacerbates the imbalance of powers between the branches as the Office of Management and Budget implements its “unitary executive” plans to shift increasing powers and functions from Congress to the president. Not only will the president have authority to name the next comptroller general, but the shutdown has effectively tied the hands of the GAO from publishing its reports, ongoing audits, investigations and court appearances. On its home page, GAO advises that its current lapse in appropriations has furloughed a majority of its workers, causing it to suspend its operations.

Meantime, another non-partisan arm of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office, created in 1974, has taken up some of the slack by reporting last week that the economy will lose between $7 billion and $14 billion due to the government shutdown. Lost wages of federal workers and lost benefits for Americans will cause a drop in the Gross Domestic Product.

As a new congressional staffer in 1969, I was especially eager to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. Two of my issue areas were defense and foreign policy.  I quickly latched on to reports of the GAO on such matters as weapon systems cost-overruns and the impact of war spending on the economy. 

I was equally grateful for the training provided to staff on policy issues and the legislative process by the Congressional Research Service, first created in 1914 as the Legislative Reference Service in the Library of Congress. The director of the Congressional Research Service is appointed by the Librarian of Congress who in turn is nominated by the president, subject to Senate confirmation.

When the the Congressional Budget Office was created in 1974, it soon became a strong third leg in Congress’s informational triad of internal agencies that bolster the institution’s lawmaking and oversight capabilities.

Other key congressional panels comprised primarily of staff experts include the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Joint Economic Committee. The Office of Technology Assessment was also created in 1974 but abolished in 1995.

Congress’s propensity to seek-out experts and place them in these key non-partisan agencies has been attributed to the progressive era’s increasing reliance on expertise. President Woodrow Wilson, who personified the emerging progressive trends, taught government and history at Princeton before entering politics. He was a great believer in applying the scientific method to the study of government and politics.   

The progressive era also spawned a plethora of independent think tanks to conduct studies and make recommendations on public policy problems. Today think tanks run the gamut of ideological leanings and policy positions. For instance, Project 2025, a Republican agenda for governing, was published in 2023 by the conservative Heritage Foundation under the direction of Russell Vought who is today director of President Trump’s Office of Management and the Budget.  

Some politicians scoff at academics with whom they disagree as “pointy-headed intellectuals.” Congress, to its credit, has managed, for the most part, to maintain a bipartisan deference to and respect for its in-house experts, exemplified by the Congressional Research Service, Government Accountability Office and Congressional Budget Office.       

Don Wolfensberger is a 28-year congressional staff veteran, culminating as chief-of-staff of the House Rules Committee in 1995. He is author of, “Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial” (2000), and, “Changing Cultures in Congress: From Fair Play to Power Plays” (2018).