House Committee Unanimously Passes Congressman Keller's Bipartisan Bill to Improve Government Efficiency

Today, the House Oversight and Reform Committee unanimously passed the GAO Mandates Revision Act, Congressman Fred Keller's bipartisan legislation which aims to streamline government operations by eliminating duplicative and outdated reporting requirements on federal agencies.

A person wearing a tieDescription automatically generated with low confidence

(Click to watch)

During the Committee markup, Congressman Keller lauded the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for its role in saving taxpayers money by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs and spending. Congressman Keller explained the GAO's efforts are often hamstrung by outdated reporting requirements which draw its limited resources away from "more timely and meaningful audits and investigations"

The GAO has identified 11 auditing or reporting mandates it is currently required to perform which the agency believes should either be modified or repealed. Congressman Keller's GAO Mandates Revision Act would eliminate these mandates, boosting efficiency and enabling the GAO to make the most of its resources.

Congressman Keller described the bill as "a good-housekeeping measure" that will improve the GAO's operations and help the agency "free up valuable resources to track the unprecedented federal spending that occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Keller's full remarks are shown below:

The Government Accountability Office serves a vital role in examining agency spending and advising lawmakers and agencies how to make the government more efficient.

GAO conducts regular mandated audits and specific congressional requests to review government programs to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

In Fiscal Year 2021 alone, GAO saved taxpayers an estimated $66 billion, and reports an estimated federal taxpayer savings of $158 for every dollar Congress has invested in GAO over the past five years.

These numbers reflect the value GAO provides to the American taxpayer.

However, their resources can be strained from time to time by duplicative or outdated statutory mandates.

Such outdated mandates force GAO to spend limited resources on reporting activities instead of more timely and meaningful audits and investigations.

This legislation is a good-housekeeping measure that removes unnecessary requirements and makes GAO more efficient with taxpayer dollars.

The GAO Mandates Revision Act modifies or repeals certain statutory mandates that have become outdated.

Revising or repealing outdated mandates will help GAO free up valuable resources to track the unprecedented federal spending that occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is also vital that GAO review the rampant waste and fraud in programs like unemployment insurance, Medicaid, and other high-risk programs.

I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation and strongly encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Source