Sponsor
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative · D-DC
Representative · D-DC
Official title: To amend title 31, United States Code, to repeal the authorities of the Government Accountability Office with respect to the District of Columbia government, and for other purposes.
Introduced October 14, 2025 by Eleanor Holmes Norton · Last progress October 14, 2025
The bill increases D.C. autonomy and reduces reporting/admin burdens for local officials, at the cost of removing independent federal oversight and audits that currently provide transparency and help detect fiscal and service-delivery problems for D.C. residents and taxpayers.
District of Columbia elected officials and the D.C. government face fewer federal reporting obligations and gain greater autonomy over internal programs and finances.
Local officials and agencies have reduced administrative and compliance burden (fewer reports and a removed required evaluation), which can save time and modest costs.
Statutory text is clarified by removing a redundant subsection marker, reducing legal and administrative confusion for officials and counsel.
D.C. residents, taxpayers, and Congress lose an independent federal oversight layer (Comptroller General/GAO reviews), reducing transparency and making it harder to detect waste, fraud, or mismanagement in local programs.
Removing the annual audit requirement for debt service payments cuts fiscal transparency about D.C. debt and could increase financial risk to taxpayers and the District's long‑term fiscal health.
Loss of GAO review and mandated evaluations makes it harder to identify and fix systemic problems, which may worsen delivery of local services that residents rely on.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Removes the District of Columbia from specified GAO oversight provisions and deletes related Comptroller General evaluation and annual audit requirements.
Removes the District of Columbia government from multiple provisions of federal law that treat it like a federal agency for Government Accountability Office (GAO) oversight and reporting. It repeals the GAO annual audit requirement and excises references to the Comptroller General from related federal and D.C. Home Rule Act provisions, altering who evaluates and receives certain financial and performance reports for the District. Makes conforming edits to the D.C. Home Rule Act to eliminate references to the Comptroller General and to remove certain GAO-related evaluation and annual audit requirements, including an annual audit of debt service payments. The result is to shift or eliminate statutory GAO roles regarding D.C. financial and performance oversight.