ABSTRACT
Although the General Accounting Office (GAO), like other federal agencies, is a creature of Congress and although much of its work is directed to the service of Congress, the Comptroller General possesses certain continuing powers of a nonlegislative nature that he may exercise with substantial independence. Since the beginning of the GAO, an important responsibility of the Comptroller General has been the rendering of decisions and the provision of advice on the interpretation of legislation and the legality of individual financial transactions. On a contract award already made, the agency must report to a number of congressional committees on corrective action it will take in response to the Comptroller General’s recommendation for corrective action. One of the most interesting and celebrated recent confrontations between the Comptroller General and the executive branch arose in connection with the application of civil rights conditions to government contracts.
