DOGE sought access to Congress's watchdog

Thus far, the agency — the U.S. Government Accountability Office — has said no.

Congress’s watchdog told the Trump administration to stay away on Friday.

Law Dork has learned that, in the aftermath of recent Trump administration efforts to upend the leadership at the Library of Congress, officials with the non-department Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) reached out to another legislative support agency — the U.S. Government Accountability Office — wanting to “assign a team” to GAO.

Per a staff announcement on Friday, GAO — which describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress” — said no.

“Today, we sent a letter to the Acting Administrator of DOGE stating that GAO is a legislative branch agency that conducts work for the Congress. As such, we are not subject to DOGE or Executive Orders,” the announcement read.

A GAO spokesperson confirmed the outreach and response:

I can confirm that GAO has been contacted by DOGE staffers seeking to assign a team to GAO citing the President’s January 20, 2025, Executive Order entitled, “Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’.” As a legislative branch agency, GAO is not subject to Executive Orders and has therefore declined any requests to have a DOGE team assigned to GAO.

Like the Library of Congress, GAO’s head — the comptroller general — is nominated by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. However, reflecting its legislative role, a congressional panel recommends candidates for comptroller general when a vacancy occurs.

The current comptroller general is Gene Dodaro, and he has been in the position since 2008.

The House Oversight Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Gerry Connolly, told Law Dork in a statement that DOGE’s effort is “a direct assault on our nation’s sacred separation of powers.”

DOGE’s effort to get into the GAO was first reported by NOTUS’s Jose Pagliery.

Here is the full staff announcement:

GAO was contacted by representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who sought to assign a team to GAO. Today, we sent a letter to the Acting Administrator of DOGE stating that GAO is a legislative branch agency that conducts work for the Congress. As such, we are not subject to DOGE or Executive Orders.

We have also notified relevant congressional committees and will keep them apprised of any further developments.

We remain committed to GAO's important mission of supporting the Congress in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities. Thank you for continuing to carry out our mission in an objective, professional, and nonpartisan matter.

Please continue to rely on GAO Notices and the GAO intranet as the reliable sources of information.

Law Dork will have more on this breaking news story as circumstances warrant.