Who is Holding the GAO Accountable?

Conn Carroll / March 16, 2009

The USA Today cites an independent report that questions the effectiveness of the ground-based missile defense interceptors the United States plans to deploy in Europe to counter a potential long-range Iranian nuclear-tipped ballistic missile threat. The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an auditing and investigative arm of the Congress.

While GAO reports may be “independent,” that does not mean they provide a fair and credible assessment of Pentagon programs. Last week, Army leaders held a press conference after a GAO report claimed to have identified a $21 billion overrun in one of their programs. According to one press report: Lt. Gen N. Ross Thompson III, military deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, sounded flabbergasted with GAO’s estimate. “I don’t know where they came up with the figure,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from.” Thompson added that he “liked data and facts” as much anyone, but said he gets frustrated when what he views as unsupported data becomes reported as truth. (more…)