The federal government’s head watchdog is stepping down before the end of the year amid investigations into the Trump administration, and he chose the chief operating officer (COO) of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be his acting successor Wednesday.
After 15 years of public service at the agency, GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro will take his final leave by Dec. 30, replaced by COO Orice Williams Brown will step in, Politico reported. The new comptroller will undertake the ongoing investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration withholding billions of dollars in federal funds.
Past GAO probes pertaining to the administration withholding federal cash concluded that the executive branch did so illegally.
GAO claimed the White House broke the law by withholding military aid to Ukraine in 2019, according to a January 2020 investigative report.
The decision to withhold funds came during Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden and the gas corporation he worked for, Burisma. The then-Office of Budget Management (OMB) spokeswoman pushed back against the GAO report, arguing the administration’s actions had been consistent with the law. (RELATED: Trump Administration Illegally Withheld Aid From Ukraine, GAO Finds)
The top oversight office also said evidence indicated the administration illegally withheld Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds, according to a September GAO report.
GAO is being pressured to sue the Trump administration, and Republican lawmakers have accused the agency of bias, Politico reported.
There are dozens of ongoing investigations into similar matters pertaining to the administration’s withholding of federal monies that the agency has not yet decided on, according to the outlet.
The new comptroller’s leadership may be temporary, as a bipartisan group of senators are set to compile a list of potential candidates for a permanent comptroller for Trump to nominate.
The acting official is permitted to be on that list, Politico noted, as that is how Dorado wound up working as the top bureaucrat for GAO. (RELATED: GAO Launches Probe Against Trump Official Behind Letitia James Fraud Case)
Williams Brown has worked there for 30 years, according to Politico. Before her current role at the GAO, she handled congressional relations for the agency.
Williams Brown will be the first woman to lead GAO.
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