Comptroller General of the United States
{{short description|Director of the Government Accountability Office}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Comptroller General
| body = the
United States of America
| native_name =
| insignia = Seal of the United States Government Accountability Office.svg
| insigniasize =
| insigniacaption = Seal of the United States Government Accountability Office
| insigniaalt =
| flag =
| flagsize =
| flagalt =
| flagborder =
| flagcaption =
| image = Eugene_Louis_Dodaro_2005.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| imagecaption =
| incumbent = Gene Dodaro
| acting =
| incumbentsince = March 13, 2008
| department = Government Accountability Office
| style =
| type = {{ubl|Director|Comptroller}}
| status =
| abbreviation =
| member_of =
| reports_to =
| residence =
| seat =
| nominator =
| appointer = President of the United States
| appointer_qualified = with the advice and consent of the Senate
| termlength = 15 years
| termlength_qualified =
| constituting_instrument = Budget and Accounting Act of 1921
| precursor =
| formation = 1921
| first = John R. McCarl
| last =
| abolished =
| superseded_by =
| succession =
| unofficial_names =
| deputy =
| salary =
| website = {{url|https://www.gao.gov/about/comptroller-general/|Official website}}
| footnotes =
}}
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 in 1921 to ensure the fiscal and managerial accountability of the federal government.
Overview
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 "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".Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, Sec. 301 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."Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, Sec. 312(a){{cite web |url=http://bulk.resource.org/gao.gov/67-13/00001A37.pdf |title=Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 Public Law 67-13 |work=GAO Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506152510/http://bulk.resource.org/gao.gov/67-13/00001A37.pdf |archive-date=2010-05-06 }}{{cite web |url= https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/usc_sup_01_31_08_I_10_7_20_II.html |title = General Powers and Duties of the GAO (31 USC 711 to 31 USC 720) Cornell Law LII|access-date=2010-04-11 |work= GAO Office}} The comptroller general is appointed for fifteen years by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate per {{usc|31|703}}. Also per {{usc|31|703}} 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 treasury secretary and the Office of Management and Budget director 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."{{citation|title=Statement of the Comptroller General of the United States|date=December 17, 2007|url=http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/07frusg/07gao1.pdf|publisher=Comptroller General of the United States}}
The current comptroller general is Eugene Louis Dodaro, who assumed office on December 22, 2010. He was preceded by David M. Walker.{{cite web |url= http://www.gao.gov/about/history/goodgov.html |title= GAO History, 1921–2008 |access-date=2007-07-30 |publisher= GAO Office}} On February 15, 2008, Walker 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 at a ceremony at the GAO on December 30, 2010.
List of officeholders
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| rowspan=2| {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan="2" | Appointing president ! rowspan="2" | {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |
|---|
| Took office
! Left office ! Time in office |
| 1
| 80px | John R. McCarl | July 1, 1921 | June 30, 1936 | {{ayd|1921|07|01|1936|06|30}} | first1 = Elmer B. | last1 = Staats | author-link1 = Elmer B. Staats | title = Annual Report of the Comptroller General of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1967 | publisher = Government Printing Office | location = Washington, D.C. | year = 1967 | page = iv | url = http://archive.gao.gov/otherpdf1/087543.pdf}} |
| 2
| 80px | Fred H. Brown | April 11, 1939 | June 19, 1940 | {{ayd|1939|04|11|1940|06|19}} |
| 3
| 80px | Lindsay Carter Warren | November 1, 1940 | April 30, 1954 | {{ayd|1940|11|01|1954|04|30}} |
| 4
| 80px | Joseph Campbell | December 14, 1954 | July 31, 1965 | {{ayd|1954|12|14|1965|07|31}} |
| 5
| 80px | Elmer B. Staats | March 8, 1966 | March 3, 1981 | {{ayd|1966|03|08|1981|03|03}} |
| 6
| 80px | Charles Bowsher | October 6, 1981 | September 30, 1996 | {{ayd|1981|10|06|1996|09|30}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/28/us/auditing-staff-facing-new-challenges.html |title=AUDITING STAFF FACING NEW CHALLENGES |first=Robert |last=Pear |date=November 28, 1981 |page=10 |newspaper=The New York Times}} |
| 7
| 80px | David M. Walker | November 9, 1998 | March 12, 2008 | {{ayd|1998|11|09|2008|03|12}} | {{cite web |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/event/keeping-america-great |title=Keeping America Great |date=2006 |work=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs}}{{cite press release |url=https://www.gao.gov/press-release/david-m.-walker%2C-u.s.-comptroller-general%2C-announces-early-departure-head-new-public-interest-foundation |title=David M. Walker, U.S. Comptroller General, Announces Early Departure to Head New Public Interest Foundation |date=February 15, 2008 |publisher=GAO}} |
| 8
| 80px | Gene Dodaro | December 30, 2010 | Incumbent | {{ayd|2010|12|30}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.gao.gov/about/comptroller-general/}}
- [http://www.gao.gov/press/cgdeparture2152008.pdf GAO Press Release about David Walker Departure]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726073424/http://gaounion.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/us-comptrollers-general-to-date-as-of-jan-2011.pdf Detailed Table on U.S. Comptrollers General as of January 2011]