U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) announced that his bipartisan legislation to increase oversight of taxpayer dollars spent by federal agencies has passed the 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).
“This bill keeps our government in check and protects Hoosier taxpayers. Increasing accountability in our federal agencies will better serve all Americans,” said Senator Young. “I’m proud that this legislation has passed out of the Senate and I look forward to working with the House to get the GAO-IG Act to the President’s desk and signed into law.”
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. 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.