White House

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided further information on the status of its audit work as of May 1998 at the Executive Residence at the White House, and identified the additional work needed to finish its audit, focusing on: (1) certain fiscal year 1996 expenditures, including those to operate the Executive Residence, that are accounted for solely on the certificate of the President or the Vice President and referred to as unvouchered expenditures; (2) certain processes and procedures relating to reimbursable expenditures of the Executive Residence; and (3) the number and cost of overnight stays in the Executive Residence since January 1993.

GAO noted that: (1) in its November 1997 testimony on the status of its audit work, GAO stated that it was proceeding on schedule on the first two phases of its work, but that it had made no progress on the third phase; (2) in GAO's March 6, 1998, report on the status of its audit work, GAO stated that the first two phases of its work were still on schedule, and that GAO was expected to complete its fieldwork that month; (3) GAO also stated that it had not obtained any additional records on the third phase of its work related to overnight stays, although GAO had met with certain Executive Residence staff and were continuing to work with White House Staff to obtain records; (4) GAO's fieldwork on the first two phases of its work is essentially complete; (5) GAO is working with the White House to resolve its remaining audit points; (6) on March 18, 1998, the White House began providing GAO with access to material related to the number of overnight stays in the Executive Residence; (7) on April 10, 1998, GAO informed White House staff that, based on its partial review of the material, as well as its review of other information available to it, GAO could not calculate the cost of the overnight stays; (8) White House staff then expressed reservations about GAO continuing to review the material, and requested that GAO discuss their reservations with the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government, House Committee on Appropriations; (9) GAO met with the Subcommittee staff on April 15, 1998, to discuss the status of its work and the reservations of White House staff regarding its review of material related to overnight stays; (10) the Subcommittee informed GAO that it wanted GAO to resume its review of the material; (11) on April 22, 1998, GAO informed White House staff of the congressional request; (12) since then, GAO has had several conversations with White House staff but has not obtained further access to the material; (13) in order to finish its audit, GAO needs to resolve the outstanding audit points on the first two phases of its work and complete its review of overnight stays; and (14) at that point, GAO will be able to report on the results of its work.