More than a dozen organizations ranging from Americans for Prosperity to Public Citizen are urging lawmakers to change the law to remove the president from the process of appointing the head of the Government Accountability Office.

In a letter sent Monday to key lawmakers from both chambers, the groups argue that since the GAO is a legislative body, its chief, the comptroller general, should be appointed by Congress rather than the president. The American Governance Institute, a nonprofit, organized the letter.

Currently, a special legislative commission recommends at least three candidates for comptroller general to the president, who then picks a nominee. The Senate must then confirm the appointment.

Those urging a change in the law say the timing is “auspicious” because a legislative commission has not yet formed to recommend candidates following the departure of former Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro, whose 15-year term ended Dec. 29. Orice Williams Brown, previously the agency’s chief operating officer, took over as acting head of the GAO when Dodaro left.

“We urge Congress to resolve the institutional framework for selecting the next Comptroller General before the next appointment is made,” the groups wrote in their letter. “Congress, and Congress alone, should choose its agency heads.”

As a government watchdog, the GAO conducts independent audits and oversees all federal agencies, conducting studies and issuing opinions on ways to improve services and avoid wasteful spending. Lawmakers rely on the GAO to provide expertise on a wide range of issues and to investigate varying concerns while recommending policy options.

Under Dodaro, the GAO has clashed with the Trump administration, which it accused of violating budget law by refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress, amounting to what the GAO said were illegal impoundments.

The White House simply ignored the GAO opinions, saying the administration is not bound by the findings of a legislative branch agency. While the GAO could take the dispute to court, it has not done so.

The rocky relationship stretches back to President Donald Trump’s first term, when the agency said Trump’s hold on military aid to Ukraine in 2019 — which resulted in the president’s first impeachment —included a violation of the 1974 law restricting presidential “impoundments.”

Under a 1980 law, a 10-member legislative commission is charged with recommending at least three candidates to the president when there is a vacancy.

The commission would ordinarily include Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., and ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich., along with House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James R. Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif.

The other members designated to the commission are the speaker, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, House minority leader, House majority leader and the president pro tempore of the Senate.

In the past, the confirmation of a comptroller general has been a low priority. For example, after former GAO head David M. Walker left the post in 2008, Dodaro became acting comptroller, but it took more than two years before he was nominated and confirmed for the post.

Those pushing to change the process note there is a long history of legislative efforts to provide for congressional appointment of the position, with the most recent being a 2025 bill introduced by Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii. That measure would give Congress sole authority to appoint and remove the comptroller general, librarian of Congress and director of the Government Publishing Office.