Recommendations for ModSub’s Hearing on GAO Modernization
On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. ET, the Subcommittee on Modernization of the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing on “Legislative Branch Advancement: GAO Modernization.”
This is an important opportunity for Members to hear about the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) efforts to be ready to advise Congress in a time of rapidly accelerating change.
The GAO was created a century ago to audit government accounts. Over time, it has come to play the essential role of Congress’s leading investigator of federal spending and performance and as a source of nonpartisan evaluation of policy options. As our world - and our government - becomes more complex, it is essential that GAO stay up-to-date with modern tools and workflows to ensure its continued effectiveness.
With fifteen mission teams focused on areas ranging from emerging technology assessment, to contracting and national security acquisitions, to healthcare, GAO is an essential resource for House and Senate Members and staff. Congress relies on GAO reports as the gold standard of long-form written products that explain how federal programs are funded and their return on investment for the American people. GAO detailees have been “in the room where it happens” for decades adding valuable, nonpartisan expertise to policy creation.
Most recently, GAO detailees aided the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in organizing and tracking its over 200 recommendations in the 116th and 117th Congress. A current GAO detailee is leading the Committee on House Administration’s work to shape policies for AI adoption within the institution. As Congress grapples with increasingly complex policy topics, detailees and short-form products aimed at getting staff smarter faster are essential resources.
POPVOX Foundation applauds the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Modernization for hosting a hearing focused on GAO’s internal efforts to stay agile in serving Congress and adopt new methods to meet the needs of a modern First Branch. As Members and staff prepare for this important hearing, we hope that the role of detailees over time will be part of the discussion and that Members will encourage GAO to invest and make more detailees available in the future. Below are some related questions that could be asked of Comptroller General Gene Dodaro:
GAO mission teams and the experts within them hold important insight about the inner workings of our agencies. Members of Congress access this knowledge by either requesting a GAO report on a given topic or by having a GAO detailee serve directly for a committee or Member on the Hill. Can you please share with us what your vision has been for the use of detailees in the larger strategic plan of GAO’s service to Congress, and any thoughts you have on how Congress can continue to utilize in-house expertise on loan from GAO?
How many GAO detailees are currently “out in the field” with placements in either the House or Senate?
How have these numbers changed over time?
What is the process for how a detail is finalized? Do you have recommendations for what Congress can do to better elevate where detailees may be needed?
One can imagine that GAO detailees gain a great benefit from a rotation on the Hill. Recently the subcommittee has been exploring ways to modernize the service provided to Congress by the Congressional Research Service and one of the changes it has considered is increasing the amount of CRS detailees because it is clear that it helps the support entity better know its customer. Do you believe the same is true for GAO?
[If yes]: Have you considered implementing a mandatory Hill rotation for some of your mission team leaders or policy experts?
Staff Notes: We understand that agencies may be reticent to send detailees to Congress out of fear that it might prompt lawmakers to consider cutting employee allocations. While we believe these concerns are unfounded, it would be helpful for Congress to re-emphasize for all legislative branch entities that in-person service and on-demand nonpartisan expertise adds immense value to the institution and is *valued* by Members. Detailees are a key support function of GAO as a legislative support entity.
Whether the Facebook hearings back in 2018 or current efforts to fully understand AI, Congress is challenged to both get smart on emerging technology and adapt to using it at the same time. The same challenges are being tackled by all of Congress’s support entities, including GAO. What do you believe are the key modernization challenges facing GAO in the coming years and how are you building institutional strategies to ensure that GAO doesn’t fall behind?
Recommendations:
In addition to the above suggested questions, we encourage Members to consider:
Formally encouraging legislative branch agencies to standardize regular rotations of detailees in the House and Senate, emphasizing that in-person placement of support entity staff within congressional offices leads these individuals to better understand their customer, workflows, and needs, ultimately elevating the entities’ support and service to Congress.
Formally encouraging GAO (and other legislative branch support entities) to actively explore new ways to share information and resources with each other — namely the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office — to ensure more holistic informational resources are provided for staff. This effort can start small by simply encouraging mission teams to find peers at the other legislative support entities and circulate related works between them, share base data, and other resources.
