The Government Accountability Office, which serves as Congress’s watchdog over federal programs, would see its budget nearly cut by nearly half in fiscal 2026, under a bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday June 26.
The Legislative Appropriation Act for fiscal 2026, which passed through the committee Thursday 34-to-28, provides $415.4 million for the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The bill now heads to the House floor, according to the committee’s June 26 press release.
The committee’s proposal for GAO amounts to $396.5 million below the fiscal 2025 enacted level of $811 million. and $518.6 million below the fiscal 2026 GAO request of nearly $934 million.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, will not seek re-election, he said over the weekend after opposing President Donald Trump’s signature reconciliation bill, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
President Trump reportedly threatened to support a GOP primary opponent seeking to unseat Tillis. Tillis then announced in a Sunday press release that he would not seek re-election in November 2026. The bill itself ultimately passed the Senate after Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.
Tillis was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 after being speaker of the house in the North Carolina legislature. During his corporate career, Tillis served as an executive for PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, according to his online biography.
Shayela Hasson, deputy director of communications at DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, is leaving NNSA effective July 10.
Hassan, who has been with NNSA about a decade, having worked at the Department of Defense previously, said July 1 on her LinkedIn page she is leaving her federal job to accept an opportunity in the private sector. Hassan plans to reveal her upcoming position in a future post on the social media site.
