President Signs Young and Warren’s Government Accountability Bill Into Law

WASHINGTON – Today, the President signed U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) bipartisan legislation to increase oversight of taxpayer dollars spent by federal agencies into law. The Good Accounting Obligation in Government (GAO-IG) Act requires federal agencies to report on open and unimplemented recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). 

“I’m proud that the President signed my bipartisan bill into law today to increase accountability within our federal government to protect Hoosiers back home and taxpayers across our country,” said Senator Young.

“The bipartisan GAO-IG Act creates a new set of tools to identify and fix problems all over the federal government, so it can work better for all Americans.  I was glad to work with Senator Young to get this done,” said Senator Warren.   

 Examples of recommendations that currently remain open and unimplemented:

• In 2013, GAO published recommendations to improve wait times at the VA so veterans can have timely access to medical care. 
• In 2015, GAO found that the Department of Justice could do more to measure progress addressing overcrowding in prisons and recidivism rates. 
• In 2014, GAO found significant oversight gaps in training for Department of State and USAID personnel that jeopardized their safety as well as others.
• In 2018, GAO found areas to improve lead grant programs and compliance monitoring processes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Failure to act on these recommendations could negatively impact the lives of all Americans, and the GAO-IG Act makes certain that Congress and taxpayers are armed with the information needed to hold federal agencies accountable.

The GAO-IG Act expands on legislation previously introduced by Senator Young that prescribes the same accountability measures to the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Education. The GAO-IG Act passed the Senate on December 6, 2018 and passed the House on December 21, 2018.