DOD Legislative Activities
Better Guidance, Accountability, and Reporting Needed Gao ID: NSIAD-86-134BR June 30, 1986Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of the Department of Defense's (DOD) controls to ensure compliance with various requirements relating to its conduct of legislative activities.
GAO found that: (1) there is a continuing need for improved guidance and accountability over DOD legislative activities; (2) DOD has not fully implemented recommendations for ensuring consistent and full accounting of its legislative activities; (3) some DOD organizations are not reporting the full extent and cost of their legislative activities and, as a result, Congress is unable to determine if DOD is complying with the annual legislative spending limitation; and (4) DOD organizations have difficulty accounting for and reporting on their legislative activities because DOD has not adopted a standardized and comprehensive accounting methodology to help organizations consistently account for and report the costs of legislative activities.