GAO Weighs Freezes and Furloughs

We had an interesting lunch in our offices today with Paul Anderson and Susan Becker of the public affairs shop at the Government Accountability Office. They noted that like executive branch agencies, GAO has been working through contingency plans for what to do if Congress enacts a measure essentially freezing its funding this year. And also like other agencies, among the possibilities GAO is considering is employee furloughs. Interestingly, congressional staffers have responded to this possibility by asking GAO officials what would happen if the House and Senate prohibited them from using furloughs to cut costs.