President names GAO veteran to head agency

President Obama announced Wednesday he would nominate Gene L. Dodaro to serve as comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office.

Dodaro has been acting head of GAO since March 2008, when David M. Walker left the agency to head the Peter G. Peterson foundation. If Dodaro's nomination is approved by the Senate, he will serve a 15-year term as comptroller general.

Dodaro is a GAO veteran, having served at the agency for more than 30 years. For nine years, he was GAO's chief operating officer, the No. 2 position at the agency. Before that, he headed its largest operating unit, the Accounting and Information Management Division. During that period, Dodaro oversaw the first-ever audit of comprehensive financial statements covering all federal agencies.

During the course of his career, Dodaro has worked with members of Congress and administration officials on several key pieces of federal management legislation, including the 1994 Government Management Reform Act, the revised 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act and the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act, which overhauled the way agencies acquire information technology systems.

Dodaro was on a list of four candidates for the comptroller general slot submitted by Democratic leaders in Congress to the president in March.