An agency that works for Congress and the American people,
the role of the Government Accountability office is to study
the programs and expenditures of the federal government as a
form of ombudsman.
Also commonly known as the investigative arm of Congress or
the congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability
office is as independent and nonpartisan body, which studies
how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.
The Government Accountability office advises Congress and
the heads of executive agencies (such as Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA, Department of Defense, DOD, and Health
and Human Services, HHS) on methods to improve government
offices and make them more effective and responsive. Government
Accountability office’s role is also to evaluate the worth of
federal programs, audit federal expenditures, and if necessary
to issue legal opinions.
The Government Accountability office does not only report
its findings to Congress, it also recommends actions to save
money. Its actions leads to the implementation of laws and acts
designed to identify problems and improve government
operations. There interventions in government fiscal policies
have been known to save billions of federal dollars every
year.
One of their legislations, which have proved especially
effective, is the False Claims Act which has led to the
evolution of the Whistleblower Act, introduced in 2001. This
legislation is possibly the single most efficient law in the
United States in reducing federal fraud. Simple but highly
efficient, it allows any federal employee who discovers fraud
against the federal government to make a report of it through
the specialized procedures of the law. As an incentive, the
federal government allows the whistleblower to claim a generous
share in the proceeds if they are able to collect from the
party who committed the fraud.
This law has two sections that are of high relevance to
whistleblowers. The first being that the whistleblower may be
to entitled to obtain a large financial award and the second
section of the false claim act allows a provision for
anti-retaliation. This provision prohibits harassment or
discharge of a whistleblower that has made a disclosure on
suspicious activities, even if proved to be unfounded.
Every year, thousands of Americans witness wrongdoing on the
job. What they witness may jeopardize the health, safety or
lives of others. This legislation introduced and fostered by
the Government Accountability office has gone a long way to
curtailing these dubious activities and saving billions along
the way.