The Government Accountability Office
Summary
Congress's own auditor, funded at $811.9 million and 3,353 people in FY2026, returned about $68 in financial benefits for every dollar it cost that year -- the Good Citizen series' first entry, on the watchdog our own reporting cites most.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
In fiscal year 2025, issued 671 total products⧉ -- reports, testimonies, and legal opinions -- and made 1,833 new recommendations to federal agencies. Its Office of General Counsel decided 1,688 bid protests⧉, the statutory referee role when a company challenges how an agency awarded a contract. experts testified 46 times before 31 separate congressional committees and subcommittees⧉, on topics from veterans' health care to air-traffic-control modernization, and received work requests from 90 percent of the full committees of Congress⧉.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $811.9 million in appropriated funds⧉ for in fiscal year 2026 -- flat against FY2025's level, and about $122 million short of the $933.9 million GAO had requested⧉. That funds 3,353 full-time staff, down from 3,556⧉ the year before; adding offsetting receipts and reimbursements, total budget authority reaches $903.3 million. Measured against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, that appropriation works out to about $2.38 per person.
View data as table
| Goal 1: Americans' well-being & financial security | 294 | 1,198 |
|---|---|---|
| Goal 3: Transforming federal government | 282 | 957 |
| Goal 2: Security threats & global interdependence | 219 | 886 |
| Direct congressional support | 91 | 252 |
| Goal 4: Internal quality & service to Congress | 17 | 60 |
Why is it good for society?
's FY2025 work produced $62.7 billion in financial benefits⧉ for the federal government -- a return of about $68 for every dollar invested in the agency that year -- plus 1,295 non-financial improvements⧉ to programs covering veterans, disability benefits, and public safety. Congress and agencies implement more than 70 percent of GAO's recommendations⧉. Since 2002, cumulative financial benefits total $1.51 trillion against $14.3 billion invested⧉ in over that span; the counterfactual is duplicative, fragmented, or unaudited federal spending that goes unmeasured and uncorrected.
- 's FY2025 financial benefits ($62.7B) work out to about $68 returned for every dollar of that year's total budget authority ($923.6M) -- close to 's own reported figure.
- Congress enacted $122 million less than 's FY2026 request; s dropped from 3,556 to 3,353 as a result.
Your handles.* Report federal fraud, waste, or abuse -- confidentially or anonymously -- through 's FraudNet hotline, which triages tips and can route them to or the relevant inspector general. can only take on work Congress asks for, so the lever for a new audit is your own member of Congress — committees are who request reviews. To see new reports as they post, sign up for email updates.
Sources(4) ▾
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2025 (GAO-26-900644) (2026-01-29) — 's own statutorily required annual performance and financial report for FY2025, released January 29, 2026 -- covers 's identity/history, FY2025 workload counts (products, recommendations, testimonies, bid protests), and FY2025 financial-benefit/return-on-investment figures. Wayback save of the PDF returned HTTP 520 (same known limitation as this newsroom's other large gao.gov PDF captures); the sealed copy above is the one-click original-document link. gao.gov · original document
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO Performance Budget FY 2027 / Fiscal Year 2027 Performance Plan (GAO-26-900698) (2026-06-22) — 's FY2027 performance budget submission to Congress; Table 3 and Table 5 give the most current dated FY2024-2027 summary of 's own budget authority and staffing, including the FY2026 ENACTED level (as opposed to earlier FY2026 request documents) -- this is the source for this entry's budget and KPIs and the by-strategic-goal chart. Wayback save of the PDF returned HTTP 520; the sealed copy above is the one-click original-document link. gao.gov · original document
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO-25-108440) (2025-04-09) — Comptroller General Gene Dodaro's statement for the record to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch requesting 's FY2026 funding -- the source for the $933.9 million requested figure this entry compares against what Congress actually enacted (per doc-gao-perfbudget-fy27's Table 3). Wayback save of the PDF returned HTTP 520; the sealed copy above is the one-click original-document link. gao.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. census.gov · original document
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The Government Accountability Office is Congress's own auditor, created by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921⧉, which moved federal auditing, accounting, and claims functions out of the Treasury after World War I spending drove up the national debt. sits in the legislative branch, not under the President -- it works only for Congress, and is led by a Comptroller General appointed to one nonrenewable 15-year term⧉ (currently held on an acting basis, following Gene Dodaro's December 2025 departure).