The government’s official watchdog is looking to shed staff as it faces a budget crunch, increasing the potential for delays in its investigatory work.
The Government Accountability Office has offered incentives for its employees to leave, telling staff it expects to approve 200 departures. Eligible employees can take a buyout of up to $25,000, early retirement or a roughly three-month period of paid leave before leaving government.
The reduction would mark a 6% cut to the GAO’s workforce and a 11% drop in staff since President Donald Trump took office. The GAO is a legislative branch agency that Trump does not control. Congress sets its budget each year.
The agency said in a memo to staff that “we do not expect our operations will be adversely affected” by the staff reductions, as they would be taken across a broad cross section of its workforce. It added that it can shift around operational responsibilities as needed.
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But the agency has already been struggling to handle the influx of investigations. One GAO employee said lawmakers requesting investigations from the agency are waiting weeks or months for staff to become available. The watchdog has taken steps to reduce those waits, the employee added, but eventually those will “not overcome the continued decline in staffing levels.”
“Smaller and slower — because of agency access issues — has basically been the vibe,” the employee said.
The separation incentives “will help GAO adjust to the current budget environment while continuing to serve the Congress, support our strategic plan, and meet mission needs,” Sarah Kaczmarek, a GAO spokesperson, said in a statement. “This is a prudent approach to ensure that we maintain capacity to meet Congressional priorities over time.”
The cuts come as the GAO is facing unusual pushback from federal agencies as it conducts its oversight work. The Trump administration has directed agencies to limit the access it grants the GAO, and the watchdog has noted in numerous reports that agencies were noncompliant. The GAO has also repeatedly cited the administration for flouting federal spending laws by unlawfully withholding or rescinding appropriated funds.
The watchdog agency has seen flat funding for two years after lawmakers pushed back on dramatic cuts proposed by House Republicans. GAO leaders are now telling staff that the agency cannot sustain its current staffing levels without a funding boost. If an insufficient number of volunteers sign up to leave, they said, involuntary layoffs would be issued as a “last resort.”
The GAO told staff the number of employees it approves to leave could be subject to change. It offered separation incentives to its workforce last year, but this is the first time it has offered the extended paid leave option.
A post-Watergate law gave the GAO authority to sue an administration that improperly refuses to spend money, though the GAO has not done so in decades. The Washington Sun previously reported that the White House has floated naming one of its own officials, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Eric Ueland, to lead the agency.
Congressional Democrats are promising extensive oversight of the Trump administration if they regain control of either House of Congress, which could lead to a surge of work for the GAO.
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