Premise: As a result, the GAO issued new independence standards applicable to audits of federal departments and agencies and entities that receive federal funds, and the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation limited the ability of auditors of public companies to perform certain non-audit services for their audit clients.

Hypothesis: Resultant of this, the GAO refused to issue independence standards which were applicable to audits of departments and agencies which receive federal funds.
Relation: contradiction