Congress’s watchdog offers a test for Republicans

The House’s recent aversion of a government shutdown through a continuing resolution without any serious spending cuts is an unsurprising disappointment for fiscal conservatives looking to rein in our profligacy. But while it’s no surprise that the House avoided the usual radioactive spending issues, the very least that we should expect from House Republicans and their new Speaker is a greater push for commonsense, nonpartisan savings wherever possible. 

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office shows a good place to start. In its performance and accountability report for FY2023, “Congress’s watchdog” once again showed both its value to the American taxpayer, and the need and opportunity to cut wasteful spending and improve governance. The willingness to act on that opportunity should serve as a test of Republicans’ credibility when they call for a more responsible, accountable government.

Each year, GAO issues thousands of recommendations to Congress and federal agencies, based on its oversight of how government funds are spent, on ways to make the government work more efficiently. These recommendations range from ways to save money by correcting waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government, to less quantifiable potential operational improvements. This year, the nonpartisan agency’s new report shows, this oversight resulted in roughly $70 billion in savings — $20 billion above its target — for a total of $1.4 trillion in savings since 2002. And GAO itself is incredibly efficient — in FY2023, every dollar invested in GAO had a return of $84, well above even last year’s return of $74 for every dollar, making funding GAO one of the best investments Congress can make.

But these savings are only realized when Congress and federal agencies act on GAO’s recommendations. GAO’s report shows that only 75 percent of its recommendations are implemented within four years — a slight decline from previous years and below its goal of 80 percent. Compounding the problem, the agency has noted that recommendations that remain open after four years are less likely to be implemented, meaning that the remaining 25 percent of recommendations likely will go nowhere. 

This lag from Congress and agencies in addressing GAO’s recommendations means that they could be saving billions more each year if they just acted on the agency’s work more quickly. GAO has more than 5,000 open recommendations, including 500 “priority” recommendations, but this vital work recognizing opportunities for savings goes to waste if Congress and federal agencies ignore it. Fixing the countless problems within the federal government can appear impossibly daunting, but GAO’s list of recommendations show that there are clear, nonpartisan ways to do it, right now.

In FY2024, implementing the watchdog’s recommendations should be an easy priority for Republicans who oppose reckless government expenditures and warn about our precipitous economic conditions. GAO itself acknowledges our spending frenzy in the report, warning, “The federal government faces an unsustainable long-term fiscal future.” And given GAO’s nonpartisan nature, any lawmaker, regardless of party, should recognize GAO’s recommendations as a straightforward opportunity to improve how the government operates.

To be sure, even implementing all of GAO’s recommendations immediately wouldn’t get us out of our massive debt. A billion here and a billion there pale before the enormity of the federal government’s mandatory spending. But if fiscal conservatives within the Republican Party want to have any credibility when they bewail irresponsible spending or unaccountable bureaucrats within the administrative state, listening to GAO is the very least they need to do. 

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has billed himself as a staunch opponent of wasteful government excess. Using Congress’s oversight, legislative and appropriations powers to require federal agencies to heed GAO’s advice and save the American taxpayer money should be at the top of his list to prove that he means it.

Robert Bellafiore is Research Manager at the Foundation for American Innovation.