Finding My Stride

After a week of mostly training and paperwork last week, this week gave me a better idea of what the job will actually be like. I had a really good time conducting background research and identifying relevant legislation for our engagement. It is an interesting topic and I am starting to feel like I have a good handle on many of the background factors that will help to set up our analysis. Also exciting is that we will soon have our meeting with the requesting Congressional office and identify how their interests or needs have changed since the request letter was sent to GAO. On Thursday we met as a team with the director on our project and it went really well. The AIC (analyst-in-charge, GAO love acronyms, it's kind of an obsession) was really pleased with how often I spoke up and the points I raised. Prior to the meeting she emphasized that I didn't need to be nervous. Her saying that was the only thing that made me a little nervous. 

The GAO is heavily involved with the 2009 Congressional and Presidential transition. They will be doing a lot of briefings of the president's staff on important issues and have even created a website that highlights some of the key issues that will play an important role at the beginning of Obama's term. I am really excited about the transition and am reading everything I can about the health care reform plans. It is amazing to think that I will likely have a chance to work closely on these issues, and to see some of that work end up being made into policy. While that may sound overly optimistic, consider the following numbers for 2008 alone for the GAO:

-Over 1,200 requests from Congress in 2008 (this is the main way GAO gets work, comes from a chair or ranking member on a committee)
-160 new mandates written into law (mandates are the second most common way of GAO getting work, things written into legislation that ask GAO to examine something later on, usually examining the effectiveness of a program)
-Provided testimony to Congress over 300 times
-Financial benefits 57.8 Billion dollars
-Other benefits 1398 (defined a variety of ways, can see more info on their website: www.gao.gov)
-Products (meaning reports and other written work, such as audits) with recommendations 66%
-Recommendations implemented 83%
-Timeliness (based on client feedback) 95%

I was particularly surprised by the recommendations implemented. I knew that GAO played a key role in helping Congress legislate (being the "investigative arm of Congress"), but I wasn't aware that some much of it was directly made into law. It really helps to explain the level of detail and precision that is emphasized in the GAO training. It is exciting to be working in such a powerful but accountable place like the GAO. They take their responsibilities seriously and I look forward to doing so as well. It is nice to have a job that I look forward to going to each day.