History

Our History at a Glance

The Budget and Accounting Act created GAO in 1921 when Congress realized the need to control growing government expenditures and debt after World War I. Until the end of World War II, GAO primarily checked the legality and adequacy of government expenditures.

After World War II, as government responsibilities and programs grew, so did GAO. The focus of our work shifted toward helping Congress monitor executive branch agencies’ programs and spending.

In 1974, Congress broadened GAO's evaluation role and gave us greater responsibility in the budget process. This was when we started to recruit scientists, actuaries, and experts in fields such as health care, public policy, and computers.

In 1986, we assembled a team of professional investigators, many with law enforcement backgrounds, to look into allegations of possible criminal and civil misconduct.

During the last 20 years, we’ve strived to improve accountability by alerting policymakers and the public to emerging problems throughout government.

In 2004, GAO's legal name changed from the General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office. The change reflected the agency’s expanding role in a growing federal government. Moving beyond financial audits, GAO began conducting performance audits—examining how government programs were performing and whether they were meeting their objectives.

In 2021, GAO celebrated a century of service as a source of objective, non-partisan information on government operations. Today, our agency that once checked millions of government vouchers has become a multidisciplinary organization equipped to handle Congress’s toughest audit and evaluation assignments.

We have looked at contemporary issues like opioid addiction, the gig economy, affordable housing, and food safety. The agency has also established a science and technology team to meet Congress’ growing need for information on cutting edge issues like artificial intelligence and infectious disease modeling. GAO also evaluated the largest response to a national emergency in U.S. history, the $2.6 trillion COVID-19 response legislation, and made recommendations about how to improve its effectiveness in dealing with public health issues and the economy.

Check out our video about GAO’s history.

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