Washington cover-up

by Clark R. Mollenhoff

I believe, of course, that the public, the Congress, and such auditing units as the General Accounting Office should have all the information departments and agencies can properly make available. However, the public interest also demands order and efficiency in the operation of these departments and agencies. And in my judgment the public interest is not necessarily served by divulging the advice, suggestions, or recommendations which subordinate employees periodically make to their superiors. In this connection, recommendations of inspectors general have been a most useful advisory tool in administering the military departments; and historically, recommendations and other advisory matter in such reports have not been released. I think this practice is a correct one, and is in the best interest of the Nation. At the same time, I want to add that the facts are distinct from advice and recommendations in these reports. It is my understanding that all the facts developed in the inspector general’s report to which you refer are being made available at the request of the General Accounting Office.

Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower

United States General Accounting Office,
Office of General Counsel,
Washington, D.C., November 4, 1958.

Memorandum on Right of the Comptroller General to Access to a Report of the Inspector General of the Air Force Entitled “Survey of Management of the Ballistic Missiles Program”

The basic statutory authority of the Comptroller General for access to records of departments and agencies is set forth in section 313 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 54). Section 313 provides:

“All departments and establishments shall furnish to the Comptroller General such information regarding the powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of business of their respective offices as he may from time to time require of them; and the Comptroller General, or any of his assistants or employees, when duly authorized by him, shall, for the purpose of securing such information, have access to and the right to examine any books, documents, papers, or records of any such department or establishment. The authority contained in this section shall not be applicable to expenditures made under the provisions of section 291 of the Revised Statutes.”

It will be noted that the only exception in section 313 relates to expenditures made under section 291, Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 107), which authorizes the Secretary of State to account for certain confidential expenditures in connection with intercourse or treaties with foreign nations by certificate where, in his judgment, he may think it advisable not to specify the details of such expenditure. Since that is the only exception stated and following the legal maxim that the specific setting forth of one type of exception precludes others from arising, it seems clear that the Comptroller General may require, and the departments are required to furnish, documents, etc., as to any other transaction or activity. Also, the language of section 313 itself [except as to the expenditures under 291 R. S.] in requiring the departments to furnish such information as the Comptroller General “may require of them” and its requirement that he be given access to any documents of the departments, clearly gives him access to all such documentation. If he has access to any document, he has access to all. The legislative background of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, makes no qualification as to what records can be required; the provision itself apparently being considered sufficiently specific. The legislative reports do bring out that one of the principal functions of the Comptroller General is to enable the Congress to be kept advised as to expenditures of the Government, and that the Comptroller General is expected to criticize extravagance, duplication, and inefficiency in executive departments. There is no doubt, in passing the act, the Congress did not intend that the executive agencies could, or would, withhold any books, documents, papers, or records needed by the Comptroller General. Otherwise, the very purpose of the act would be nullified.

The authority and duty of the Comptroller General was amplified by section 206 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (31 U.S.C. 60), which authorized and directed him to make expenditure analyses of each agency in the executive branch of the Government which “will enable Congress to determine whether public funds have been economically and efficiently administered and expended” and to make reports thereon from time to time to the Committees on Government Operations, and Appropriations and other committees having jurisdiction over legislation relating to the operation of the agencies involved. The work of the Comptroller General, together with the activities of the Committees on Government Operations, were to serve as a check on the economy and efficiency of administrative management. See pages 6 and 7, Senate Report No. 1400 on the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.

The Congress has also directed that the Comptroller General in performing his duties give full consideration to the administrative reports and controls of the departments and agencies. The Government Corporation Control Act specifically provides in section 301 (a) (31 U.S.C. 866), “That in making the audits ... the Comptroller General shall, to the fullest extent deemed by him to be practicable, utilize reports of examination of Government corporations made by a supervising administrative agency pursuant to law.” The legislative reports on that act, Senate Report 694, page 10, contains the following significant language:

“The audit provisions are intended to give the Congress the independent audit reports of its agent, the Comptroller General, as to the operations and financial condition of every Government corporation in which the Government has a capital interest.... If the audit by the Comptroller General is to be a truly independent audit, he must not be restricted in such a way as to prevent him from examining into and reporting the transactions of any Government corporation to the extent deemed by him to be necessary.