News: The GAO is offering hundreds of employees voluntary buyouts ahead of the uncertainty over how much funding the agency will receive from Congress.
The watchdog has been under fire from the Trump administration and House Republicans, who proposed halving the agency’s budget. In the face of a precarious budget situation, the GAO has offered employees Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment programs, spokesperson Sarah Kaczmarek said.
Up to 300 employees may be approved for the buyout programs, though that number could change, according to the GAO.
The agency previously warned that it could lose more than 2,200 of its roughly 3,500 employees under the House GOP spending proposal. Senate Republicans haven’t called for such cuts. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill that would keep the agency’s funds steady.
“GAO remains focused on our mission of providing Congress with fact-based recommendations on how to save money and make the government work better for the American people,” Kaczmarek said in a statement.
The GAO has also been in the midst of more than two dozen impoundment investigations into the Trump administration. The latest ruling came Tuesday when the watchdog found the administration violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding NIH grant funding.
Democratic response: House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) noted that it’s the GAO that roots out waste, fraud and abuse and protects Congress’ power of the purse.
“Now, that success is under threat,” DeLauro said. “Republicans and an out of control and unaccountable [OMB Director] Russ Vought are no doubt celebrating that GAO is faced with offering buyouts, which risk weakening its oversight capacity and creating space for fraudsters and grifters to thrive.”
