Principles of Federal Appropriations Law - US Government ...

2. GAO’s Role in the
Process
Chapter 1
Introduction
vote). 30 Although the statutory 1997 BEA limits expired at the end of fiscal
year 2002, Congress continues to use the concurrent resolution on the
budget to establish and enforce congressional budgetary limits. H.R. Con.
Res. 95, 108 th Cong. § 504 (2003).
As the budget and appropriations process has evolved over the course of
the twentieth century, GAO’s role with respect to it has also evolved.
Title III of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, 31 GAO’s basic enabling
statute, created two very different roles for the Comptroller General and
the new agency.
First, he was to assume all the duties of the Comptroller of the Treasury
and his six subordinate auditors, and to serve as the chief accounting
officer of the government. To this end, the Comptroller General was given
the authority to settle all claims by and against the government. 32 In 1995,
Congress transferred GAO’s claim settlement authority to the executive
branch. 33
Second, under the enabling statute the Comptroller General was given the
authority to settle the accounts of the U.S. government, which includes the
authority to issue legal decisions. 34 The issuance of legal decisions is
discussed in section E of this chapter.
30 This point of order, established in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control
Act of 1974, as amended, applies only to the Senate.
31 Pub. L. No. 67-13, 42 Stat. 20 (June 10, 1921).
32 Budget and Accounting Act § 305, 31 U.S.C. § 3702(a).
33 Pub. L. No. 104-53, 109 Stat. 514 (Nov. 19, 1995) and Pub. L. No. 104-316, 110 Stat. 3826
(Oct. 19, 1996), transferred the Comptroller General’s authority over claims and related
functions to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, who in turn delegated
specific functions to the Departments of Defense and Treasury, the General Services
Administration, and the Office of Personnel Management. For additional details, see
B-275605, Mar. 17, 1997.
34 31 U.S.C. § 3526(a), also derived from § 305 of the Budget and Accounting Act; 31 U.S.C.
§ 3529. As a result of this authority, the Comptroller General and GAO were sometimes
referred to as the “accounting officers of the government” in early legal decisions. See
footnote 2 of this chapter.
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