I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5300 

To amend provisions relating to the Office of the Inspector General of the 

Government Accountability Office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 29, 2023 

Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To amend provisions relating to the Office of the Inspector 

General of the Government Accountability Office, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘GAO Inspector Gen5 eral Parity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE GOV7 ERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE. 

8 Section 705 of title 31, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The In3 spector General’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des5 ignated, by striking the second sentence; 

6 and 

7 (iii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(B) If the Inspector General is removed from 

10 office or is transferred to another position or loca11 tion within the Government Accountability Office, 

12 the Comptroller General shall communicate in writ13 ing the substantive rationale, including detailed and 

14 case-specific reasons, for any such removal or trans15 fer to both Houses of Congress (including to the ap16 propriate congressional committees), not later than 

17 30 days before the removal or transfer. 

18 ‘‘(C) If there is an open or completed inquiry 

19 into the Inspector General that relates to the re20 moval or transfer of the Inspector General under 

21 subparagraph (A), the written communication re22 quired under subparagraph (B) shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) identify each entity that is conducting, 

24 or that conducted, the inquiry; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a completed inquiry, 

2 contain the findings made during the inquiry. 

3 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a 

4 personnel action otherwise authorized by law, other 

5 than transfer or removal.’’; 

6 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

7 paragraph (4); 

8 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this 

11 paragraph, only the Comptroller General may place 

12 the Inspector General on non-duty status. 

13 ‘‘(B) If the Comptroller General places the In14 spector General on non-duty status, the Comptroller 

15 General shall communicate in writing the sub16 stantive rationale, including detailed and case-spe17 cific reasons, for the change in status to both 

18 Houses of Congress (including to the appropriate 

19 congressional committees) not later than 15 days be20 fore the date on which the change in status takes ef21 fect, except that the Comptroller General may sub22 mit that communication not later than the date on 

23 which the change in status takes effect if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Comptroller General has made a 

25 determination that the continued presence of 


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1 the Inspector General in the workplace poses a 

2 specific threat; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the Comp4 troller General includes a report on the deter5 mination described in clause (i), which shall in6 clude— 

7 ‘‘(I) the substantive rationale, includ8 ing detailed and case-specific reasons, for 

9 the determination made under clause (i); 

10 ‘‘(II) an identification of each entity 

11 that is conducting, or that conducted, any 

12 inquiry upon which the determination 

13 under clause (i) was made; and 

14 ‘‘(III) in the case of an inquiry de15 scribed in subclause (II) that is completed, 

16 the findings made during that inquiry. 

17 ‘‘(C) The Comptroller General may not place 

18 the Inspector General on non-duty status during the 

19 30-day period preceding the date on which the In20 spector General is removed or transferred under 

21 paragraph (2)(A) unless the Comptroller General— 

22 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the 

23 continued presence of the Inspector General in 

24 the workplace poses a specific threat; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date on which the 

2 change in status takes effect, submits to both 

3 Houses of Congress (including to the appro4 priate congressional committees) a written com5 munication that contains the information re6 quired under subparagraph (B), including the 

7 report required under clause (ii) of that sub8 paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be con10 strued to limit or otherwise modify any statutory 

11 protection that is afforded to the Inspector General 

12 or a personnel action that is otherwise authorized by 

13 law.’’; and 

14 (D) in paragraph (4), as so designated— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The In16 spector General’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des18 ignated, by striking ‘‘be paid at an annual 

19 rate of pay equal to $5,000 less than the 

20 annual rate of pay of the Comptroller Gen21 eral’’ and inserting ‘‘have a rate of basic 

22 pay that is not less than the average rate 

23 of basic pay of all other employees of the 

24 Government Accountability Office in posiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Aug 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5300.IH H5300

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1 tions established under section 732a or 

2 733 of this title’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(B) The Comptroller General shall establish 

6 the amount of the annual adjustment of the rate of 

7 basic pay for the Inspector General in an amount 

8 equal to the average of the annual adjustments in 

9 the rate of basic pay provided pursuant to section 

10 733(a)(3)(b) of this title to all other employees in 

11 positions established under section 732a or 733 of 

12 this title.’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (f)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘The Comptroller General’’ 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—The Comptroller General’’; 

17 and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(2) BUDGET INDEPENDENCE.—The Comp20 troller General shall include the annual budget re21 quest of the Inspector General in the budget of the 

22 Government Accountability Office without change.’’; 

23 and 

24 (3) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), in the second sen2 tence, by striking ‘‘, except that no personnel of 

3 the Office may be paid at an annual rate great4 er than $1,000 less than the annual rate of pay 

5 of the Inspector General’’; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) LEGAL ADVICE.—The Inspector General 

8 shall, in accordance with applicable laws and regula9 tions governing selections, appointments, and em10 ployment at the Government Accountability Office, 

11 obtain legal advice from a counsel reporting directly 

12 to the Inspector General or another Inspector Gen13 eral.’’. 

Æ 


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