GAO powers would increase under bill moved by House
The House approved legislation Tuesday expanding the Government Accountability Office's power to scrutinize executive branch agencies.
The measure, passed by voice vote, gives GAO the right to pursue civil action against federal agencies to obtain information.
That provision is the result of a ruling on former Comptroller General David Walker's effort to obtain records from an energy task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. A U.S. district court said GAO did not have the right to sue for them.
Introduced by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and co-sponsored by all House committee chairmen, the bill also gives GAO authority to interview federal employees under oath and creates a mechanism for GAO to report to Congress on refusals by agencies to turn over information.
COMMENTS
- What we need now is a novel where GAO is the not so veiled organization manipulating the country in the direction some sinister and/or misguided perhaps elitist for profit folks want it to go vice the will of the people and the REAL representatives not to be confused with folks that have enough money to buy into politics or manipulated in by press coverage, spin doctoring... Ralph Posted July 31, 2008 3:17 PM
- This bill and this story need more info. For example, what is the Constitutional basis for permitting an arm of Congress to bring a "civil action"? Any citizen, including Congressmen/women can hire a lawyer, file a civil compliant and ask for court date -- yes? -- so what's new here -- and why stop at "civil action", why not the whole hog, i.e., the additional power to bring a "criminal action" -- after all the Justice Dept is not a current Congressional favorite, though I sense a small Constitutional glitch here and some legal summersaults needed to fully implement (look to your blogs law review brainiacs and tenure seeking law profs). So, is Congress just posturing (I believe so) or, in the waning days of Bush II, is Congress boldly going where the Founding Fathers would be going if they were seated in a 2008 Preus and had brain cells watered by a Harvard JD? Finally, on the politico/aesthetic side, this bill is unfortunately a typically misguided Congressional response to a particular source of Executive frustration, e.g. problems extracting politically damaging data from an opposition-run Administration. "What's the solution?" says the summertime Committee Chair to the substitute Chief Counsel? "Yo, Chairperson, let's stuff yet another law into the Federal Code, that'll break-out those embarrassing factoids and reap glory for the Hill-top crusaders." Indeed. I await the prize winning case studies on this brilliant legislative strategy to solve a minor political impasse from all the usual Ivy venues, and, should this silliness become an actual law, I applaud all the resume building internships – foundation funded of course -- in the GAO's Office of Counsel as junior lawyers learn how judges will help make the Republic yet freer. Ah, another July in the nation’s capital: just busy grinding summer sausage in olde D.C. Concerned Retiree Posted July 31, 2008 2:48 PM
- That's what we need a bunch of nose pickers with more authority. This will be vetoed as soon as it reaches Bush. Congress just doesn't understand the separation of powers maybe its time for a civics lesson for them, obviously they failed to pay attention in grade school Dan ketter Posted July 31, 2008 12:28 PM
