DOGE Warned by Congress to Stay Away from GAO

Members of Congress are telling the administration to keep its hands off the Government Accountability Office (GAO), after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tried to install a team at GAO, in its latest effort to extend power beyond the executive branch.  

In a letter, GAO confirmed that DOGE attempted to assign a team to the agency and that it replied with a letter stating that it is a legislative branch agency.

“As such, we are not subject to DOGE or Executive Orders. We have also notified relevant congressional committees and will keep them appraised of any further developments,” stated the GAO letter. 

While a GAO spokesperson said the “matter is now closed,” members of Congress, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, are outraged. 

“The law is crystal clear: GAO is a legislative branch agency not subject to DOGE or the president’s whims. It is an indispensable, impartial government watchdog, and its independence must remain,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), vice chair of the appropriations committee. 

GAO employees were told of the DOGE request and the agency’s pushback. An email to GAO union members stated that union leaders “have full confidence that GAO leadership will protect and defend GAO’s independence, as the Comptroller General and Executive Committee have made clear at prior town halls.”

DOGE’s Legislative Branch Interest

DOGE’s attempt to get into GAO and enact some cost-cutting measures is not the first attempt by the Trump Administration to interfere with legislative-branch agencies. 

Earlier in May, the President fired the Librarian of Congress and the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, resulting in some bipartisan pushback. Members resisted the attempt by President Trump to install his former attorney, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, as acting librarian. As of now, Robert Newlen, deputy to the fired Librarian Carly Hayden, remains interim leader.