Comptroller General of the United States

Overview

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 "created an establishment of the Government to be known as the General Accounting Office, which shall be independent of the executive departments and under the control and direction of the Comptroller General of the United States". The act also provided that the "Comptroller General shall investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President when requested by him, and to Congress... recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures." The comptroller general is appointed for fifteen years by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate per . Also per when the office of comptroller general is to become vacant the current comptroller general must appoint an executive or employee of the GAO to serve as the acting comptroller general until such time as a new comptroller general is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The comptroller general has the responsibility to audit the financial statements that the treasury secretary and the Office of Management and Budget director present to the Congress and the president. For every fiscal year since 1996, when consolidated financial statements began, the comptroller general has refused to endorse the accuracy of the consolidated figures for the federal budget, citing "(1) serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense, (2) the federal government’s inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies, and (3) the federal government’s ineffective process for preparing the consolidated financial statements."

Upon the conclusion of his term on December 29, 2025, Eugene Louis Dodaro retired as Comptroller General. Orice Williams Brown is leading the GAO in the interim. Dodaro assumed office on December 22, 2010. He was preceded by David M. Walker. On February 15, 2008, Walker announced that he was resigning from GAO to head The Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Dodaro became Acting Comptroller General of the United States on March 13, 2008, and was subsequently appointed by the president on September 22, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010, as the comptroller general. Dodaro was sworn in at a ceremony at the GAO on December 30, 2010.

List of officeholders

References

References

1. [[Budget and Accounting Act of 1921]], Sec. 301
2. [[Budget and Accounting Act of 1921]], Sec. 312(a)
3. "Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 Public Law 67-13". GAO Office.
4. "General Powers and Duties of the GAO (31 USC 711 to 31 USC 720) Cornell Law LII". GAO Office.
5. (December 17, 2007). "Statement of the Comptroller General of the United States". Comptroller General of the United States.
6. https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2025/12/exit-interview-gaos-gene-dodaro-talks-impoundments-tenure-and-retirement-priorities/410114/
7. "GAO History, 1921–2008". GAO Office.
8. Pear, Robert. (November 28, 1981). "AUDITING STAFF FACING NEW CHALLENGES". [[The New York Times]].
9. (2006). "Keeping America Great". [[Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs]].
10. (February 15, 2008). "David M. Walker, U.S. Comptroller General, Announces Early Departure to Head New Public Interest Foundation". GAO.
11. (December 30, 2010). "New Comptroller General Formally Sworn Into Office". GAO.
12. Scholtes, Jennifer. (December 30, 2025). "The federal government’s top watchdog has retired. Now Congress has to pick a replacement.". [[Politico]].