Government Accountability Office

The Government Accountability Office is the investigative arm of the Congress and is charged with examining all matters relating to the receipt and disbursement of public funds. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan Agency that works for Congress.gAO is often called the "congressional watchdog'' because it investigates how the Federal Government spends taxpayer dollars. The GAO was established as the General Accounting Office by the Budget Accounting Act of 1921 (31 U. S. C. 702). It was renamed the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the GAO Capital Reform Act of 2004 (31 U. S. C. 702 note).