Congress Celebrates Its Top Cost-Saver, But More Work Remains
Photo: gao.gov
This week, the House Administration Committee's Modernization Subcommittee convened another forward-thinking hearing, this time examining how to build on the success achieved by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) while ensuring the agency continues to adapt to a congress in need of faster, fact-based, digestible information.
The bipartisan subcommittee, led by Chairwoman Stephanie Bice [R, OK] and Ranking Member Derek Kilmer [D, WA] was created this year to continue the work of the former Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which passed over 200 bipartisan recommendations for how to improve Congress as an institution.
Gathered in its unique roundtable format, the Subcommittee kicked off its hearing by highlighting the uniquely positive story of GAO’s success. Known for its rigorous, nonpartisan oversight, this legislative branch agency saves taxpayers $145 for every $1 invested in it. Succinctly put by Chairwoman Bice in her opening remarks, “it gets results”.
Publishing hundreds of reports and testimonies annually, GAO increases accountability throughout the federal government. Thousands of its recommendations have been implemented by Congress resulting in millions of federal dollars saved. Yet even with this track record of success, the GAO struggles to put its products in the hands of rank-and-file members of Congress, and has narrowed its outreach to focus almost exclusively committee leadership. As a result, although 80 percent of GAO recommendations are implemented, 1 in 5 is left on the table. Chairwoman Bice set the stage by quoting the quintessential GAO line found in countless reports, “progress made, challenges remain.”
With new Members joining the congressional ranks every two years, and staff turning over at a much higher rate, GAO struggles to remain a known, accessible resource. But yes, progress made: the Committee on House Administration has partnered with the Architect of the Capitol to allocate space in the Longworth House Office Building for a GAO beachhead (opening later this year) where Members and staff will be able to directly engage with the agency.
In a second panel, GAO’s former Chief Scientist, Dr. Tim Persons, made the case for the creation of the Office of the Congressional Science and Technology Advisor within GAO. The idea behind this position is based on the concept of a resource quarterback — someone who can help direct congressional requests to the correct support entity to result in the quickest, most impactful response. This could address the common problem on the Hill where, counterintuitively, staff aren’t in need of information, but rather overwhelmed by how much is presented on a single topic, thus requiring a guide to direct them to exactly what their boss needs.
Other novel ideas for GAO modernization included:
James-Christian Blockwood, Executive Vice President of the Partnership for Public Service proposed the creation of a dashboard through which congressional staff and Members could access the research and findings of not only GAO, but also the Congressional Research Service (CRS), and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General and head of GAO, pitched a related but more limited version of this idea: one of a dashboard or platform that utilizes generative AI to directly engage with Congress's inquiries and pull responses from a model trained solely on GAO reports and products.
Although both of these products are theoretical, a conversation discussing the possibility of a nonpartisan, fact-based GenAI-powered congressional research dashboard occurring in a congressional hearing is a moment to be celebrated. Congress is taking note of technological advancements taking place in the private sector and wants to start seeing how these tools can be adapted to build congressional capacity. Not only would this increase access of the work being produced by the entities to staff who are DC based, GenAI models trained on government data, research, and recommendations could empower congressional offices and federal agencies across the country to pursue policies that reduce government waste and redundancies.
The new Modernization Subcommittee is forcing Congress to address institutional decay and take steps to remediate it. Chair Bice and Ranking Member Kilmer highlighted the undeniable success of GAO, but continue to challenge it and the other support entities to adapt. This proactive oversight is vital as technology and our congress rapidly changes, emphasizing that even the legislative branch’s highest performing entity can’t rest on its laurels. Progress made, challenges remain.
