Federal Advisory Committees: GSA's Management Oversight and GAO Comments on Proposed Legislative Amendments (S. 2721)
Highlights
GAO discussed its review of the General Services Administration's (GSA) implementation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, focusing on: (1) GSA management of advisory committee activities; and (2) a proposed legislative amendment to the act. GAO found that GSA: (1) focused its activities on consultations with agencies and preparation of the President's annual report; (2) relied on the agencies responsible for advisory committees to report on any needed changes; (3) failed to determine why 26 committees were inactive in fiscal years 1986 and 1987; (4) did not obtain complete charters and justifications for 114 advisory committees established between 1986 and 1988; (5) provided inadequate reports to Congress in 1986 and 1987 to identify areas for management attention; and (6) since 1980, has failed to send Congress follow-up reports on presidential advisory committees' recommendations. GAO also found that the proposed amendment to the act would: (1) provide GSA with adequate time to analyze advisory committees from a government-wide perspective and would be useful to Congress in carrying out its oversight responsibilities; (2) require periodic reviews of each advisory committee; and (3) require committee members to file financial disclosure statements before appointment in order to avoid conflict-of-interest.