The Comptroller General of the United States is the director of the Government Accountability Office (GAO, formerly known as the General Accounting Office), a legislative-branch agency established by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1921 to ensure the fiscal and managerial accountability of the federal government.

Overview

The

Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 () was landmark legislation that established the framework for the modern federal budget. The act was approved by President Warren G. Harding to provide a national budget system and an independent audit of g ...

"created an establishment of the Government to be known as the General Accounting Office, which shall be independent of the executive departments and under the control and direction of the Comptroller General of the United States". The act also provided that the "Comptroller General shall investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President when requested by him, and to Congress... recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures." The

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level exec ...

General is appointed for fifteen years by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

with the advice and consent of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

per . Also per when the office of Comptroller General is to become vacant the current Comptroller General must appoint an executive or employee of the GAO to serve as the Acting Comptroller General until such time as a new Comptroller General is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Comptroller General has the responsibility to audit the financial statements that the

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

and the Director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

present to the Congress and the President. For every fiscal year since 1996, when consolidated financial statements began, the Comptroller General has refused to endorse the accuracy of the consolidated figures for the federal budget, citing "(1) serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense, (2) the federal government’s inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies, and (3) the federal government’s ineffective process for preparing the consolidated financial statements." The current Comptroller General is

Eugene Louis Dodaro Eugene Louis Dodaro (born May 7, 1951) is the Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). From October 1, 2000, until March 12, 2008, he was the chief operating officer (COO) of the GAO an ...

, who became Comptroller General on December 22, 2010. He was preceded by David M. Walker. On February 15, 2008, David Walker, then Comptroller General, announced that he was resigning from GAO to head The Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Eugene Louis Dodaro became Acting Comptroller General of the United States on March 13, 2008, and was subsequently appointed by the President on September 22, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 2010, as the Comptroller General. Dodaro was sworn in as Comptroller General at a ceremony at the GAO on December 30, 2010.

List of U.S. Comptrollers General

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.gao.gov/about/comptroller-general/
GAO Press Release about David Walker Departure

Detailed Table on U.S. Comptrollers General as of January 2011

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Auditing in the United States

Overview

List of U.S. Comptrollers General

See also

References

External links