GAO DETAILS PAIN OF POTENTIAL SEQUESTRATION CUTS

With staffing levels already at near historic lows, the Government Accountability Office would be forced to cut another 100 employees if across-the-board sequestration cuts go into effect, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday. Dodaro said the GAO was bracing for a reduction of 5.3 percent to its Fiscal Year 2013 budget under sequestration, or $27.3 million. He said staffing levels at the agency had dipped to 2,975 in FY 2013, dropping below 3,000 for the first time since 1935 and 14 percent below staffing levels three years ago. “It is imperative that GAO rebuild its staff capacity to a level that will enable us to optimize the benefits we yield for Congress and the nation,” Dodaro said in his prepared testimony. “Given the size of the federal budget and the multi-year actions needed to address the seriousness of the government’s fiscal condition, investing resources to restore some of GAO’s staff capacity would be a prudent and wise investment that will produce positive outcomes for the Congress and our country.”