Number: RL30349
Title: GAO: General Accountability Office and General Accounting Office
Authors: Frederick M. Kaiser, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: On July 7, 2004, an old congressional support agency was given a new name, while keeping the same initials (GAO): at that time, the General Accounting Office, established in 1921, was re-designated the Government Accountability Office (P.L. 108-271). The renaming, which came at the request of its head, the Comptroller General (CG) of the United States, was designed to reflect the agency's evolution and additional duties since its creation more than eight decades before. The act also expanded the CG's authority over pay and personnel matters.
Pages: 27
Date: September 10, 2008