Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office.

Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

2025-04-29

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This hearing focused on the fiscal year 2026 budget requests for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Government Publishing Office (GPO), with an emphasis on fiscal restraint and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars [ 00:18:02-00:18:28 ] . Chairman Mullin and Ranking Member Heinrich both underscored the importance of preparing a fiscally responsible bill that supports Congress's constitutional responsibilities [ 00:17:24 ] . The discussion covered the agencies' critical work, funding needs, and efforts towards modernization and efficiency.

Themes

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Budget and Operations

The CBO has requested an appropriation of $75.8 million for 2026, marking an 8.2% increase from the previous year [ 00:24:27 ]

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. This funding aims to cover increased pay and benefits, enhance IT infrastructure, and add 15 new staff positions in high-interest areas such as healthcare, national security, and dynamic analysis . CBO's core mission is to provide Congress with timely, rigorous, and transparent nonpartisan analysis, including cost estimates for legislation, budget and economic projections, and comprehensive policy analysis [ 00:24:31-00:24:36 ]

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. The agency distinguishes its role from GAO by focusing on forward-looking projections and the economic impacts of emerging technologies like AI . To manage an increasing workload, CBO has prioritized requests and implemented staff flexibility, including hiring more agile younger staff, and proactively anticipates congressional needs .

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Oversight and Value

The GAO's budget request seeks an increase to its current $812 million budget, with the goal of approaching $1 billion, despite a reduction of 126 staff members due to continuing resolutions [ 00:19:55 ] . The agency emphasizes its significant return on investment, reporting $123 saved for every dollar invested, leading to over $67 billion in financial benefits to the government last year [ 00:30:17 ]

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. GAO identifies and monitors high-risk areas within federal operations, such as Medicare, defense systems, and disaster assistance, and consistently reports on government overlap and duplication [ 00:30:39-00:32:03 ]

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. The demand for GAO's work is substantial, with numerous mandates and requests across critical sectors including national security, healthcare, and cybersecurity [ 00:32:56-00:34:01 ]

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. The agency has developed a robust AI program, producing over 50 reports since 2018, and stresses the importance of data quality and real-time auditing of government IT systems . GAO is currently investigating 39 cases under the Impoundment Control Act, highlighting challenges with agency responsiveness and recommending legislative action to ensure timely information sharing .

Government Publishing Office (GPO) Modernization and Digital Access

The GPO has requested $135.4 million for FY26, representing a 2.6% increase to cover rising labor and material costs and to fund key initiatives . Only about 9% of GPO's revenue comes from direct appropriations, with the majority generated from services provided to federal agencies . The budget request includes allocations for congressional publishing, public information programs like the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and technology upgrades for its revolving fund . GPO is actively modernizing its operations through automation, adopting digital inkjet printing for greater efficiency, and developing tools like XPUB for legislative documents and GovInfo for online government information access .

Fiscal Responsibility and Efficiency Challenges

Both Chairman Mullin and Senator Heinrich emphasized the need for fiscal restraint and efficiency across all federal agencies [ 00:18:02 ] . Chairman Mullin challenged GAO's budget increase, questioning the agency's use of technology to offset staffing needs and improve overall efficiency, drawing parallels to private sector practices . A significant point of contention was the Republican reconciliation package and its potential impact on Medicaid and other critical programs, with concerns raised about the feasibility of proposed spending cuts without affecting core services .

Tone of the Meeting

The meeting maintained a professional and respectful tone, with both Chairman Mullin and Ranking Member Heinrich expressing a desire for cooperative work [ 00:17:24 ] . There was a clear and consistent concern about fiscal prudence and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars [ 00:18:02 ] . Committee members were inquisitive, asking detailed and sometimes challenging questions about budget justifications and agency operations [ 00:36:02-00:36:18 ]

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. Chairman Mullin was notably frank in his admonition against political bias in agency responses, particularly regarding a recent GAO opinion on the CRA, emphasizing his commitment to a non-political committee environment . Witnesses were frequently thanked for their testimony and the support their agencies provide [ 00:18:41 ] .

Participants

Transcript

Beep.   Thank you.
year of 2026 budget hearing for the agencies underneath the jurisdiction of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee.  This is my first hearing with the Appropriations Committee, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve as chairman of this subcommittee.  I'm also grateful for Chair Collins and Leader Thune for the commitment to bring appropriation bills to the Senate floor.  I would like to welcome Ranking Member Heinrich.   who was kindly enough to invite me on to CODEL over the break, and unfortunately I wasn't able to make it, but thank you.  I'm looking forward to working with him and other members of the subcommittee in crafting responsible funding for legislative and for the support Congress and the entire legislative branch needs.  Today we will...   With us, we have Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Dr. Phil Swigel, the Head of Government Accountabilities Office, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, and the Director of Government Publish Office, Mr. Hugh Halpern.   Thank you so much.  Before we get into the specific details of the budget request, I want to acknowledge that after years of significant spending, the federal government as a whole must show physical restraint.  And the majority of the American people want to make sure that their tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively.  The legislative branch is no exception and must demonstrate that we're a good steward of the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars.   I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today.  I look forward to our discussion and learn more about the agency's priorities for the year.  Now I'd like to turn it to the ranking member, Senator Heinrich, for remarks you'd like to make.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I look forward to working with you this year to prepare a fiscally responsible bill that will meet the needs of the Congress and our support agencies so that we can effectively carry out our constitutional responsibilities on behalf of the American people.  Thank you to the witnesses providing testimony today and to the folks at your agencies who work every day to facilitate the Congress's work.   Mr. Dodaro, the Government Accountability Office plays an important role in providing oversight of government spending.  This year, the GAO is requesting nearly $934 million to perform that critical work.  I know your agency's workload is large.  In fiscal year 2024, GAO received over 550 requests to perform work from 93% of the standing committees of the Congress.   This is in addition to the thousands of products, recommendations, and adjudications you all completed.  However, with a flat budget in fiscal year 2025, GAO was required to shrink its staffing level and defer critical investments in the agency's operations.  I look forward to your testimony about your fiscal year 2026 budget request and to hearing more about what resources you need to support Congress and our government.   Dr. Swaggle, the Congressional Budget Office has requested nearly $76 million to perform your agency's critical work in support of Congress, an increase of almost $6 million.  Now, I understand that in fiscal year 2024, CBO published about 1,100 cost estimates for legislation, in addition to hundreds of reports and informational products to support Congress's work.   The work of the CVO requires highly skilled subject matter experts to provide the quality analysis we need to do our job, so I look forward to hearing from you about the resources you need this fiscal year.
Mr. Halprin, the Government Publishing Office is requesting $135 million to support personnel costs and resources necessary to carry out the work of your agency.   a 2.6% increase.  I know that your work is crucial to providing resources to the American people so that they can easily access information about their government.  And I understand that a portion of the requested increase in funding pays for the cost of providing a digital format of federal government publications to over a thousand federal repository libraries nationwide.   So I look forward to hearing more about the resources you need to continue to get critical information into the hands of the American people.  And again, thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Senator Heinrich.  I want to remind everybody that we do have a timer, and I will be strict on it.  I'll be strict for the Republicans as much as I'll be strict to our witnesses and to the colleagues in the Democrat Party.  Everybody's time is important, and so we have five minutes.  I would kindly ask all of our witnesses in your statement, when you notice you're about 20 seconds up, look for an ending.   because at five minutes, I'll begin to tap the gavel, okay?  So with that, Mr. Swaggle, you're up first.
Thank you, Chairman Mullin, Ranking Member Heinrich, and members of the subcommittee.  Thank you for the opportunity to present the CBO's budget request.  As you said, Mr. Chairman, CBO requests an appropriation of $75.8 million for 2026.  That's an increase of $5.8 million, or 8.2%, from the amount that was provided in 2025 and the same amount that was provided in 2024.   The request would address increased cost for pay and benefits, allow CBO to improve its IT infrastructure, and add staff in areas of especially intense legislative interest.  CBO's mission is to provide nonpartisan analysis to the Congress that is timely, rigorous, and transparent.  When legislation is heading to a vote, we provide cost estimates and real-time analysis of amendments

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