Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee, presided over his first hearing, “A Review of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office.”
In his remarks, Senator Mullin set the tone for how he wants to run the Legislative Branch Subcommittee—highlighting accountability to taxpayers and strong bipartisan work.
“Before we get into the specific details of the budget request, I want to acknowledge that after years of significant spending, the federal government as a whole must show physical restraint, and the majority of the American people want to make sure that their tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively,” said Senator Mullin. “The legislative branch is no exception and must demonstrate that we’re a good steward of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.”
The full subcommittee hearing can be found here.
Highlights of Senator Mullin’s remarks are below.
On the concern of politicization at the Government Accountability Office:
“There’s concern, especially on our side of the aisle, that the CRA response looks political, especially since you made the opinion in about eight days and then the last time the EPA submitted to you, they submitted to you as a rule.”
“I just would throw this out, and I throw this out to all the agencies, we do not want you to be political. We don’t want you to make a political decision. That’s the fastest way to get myself, or my ranking member, upset. I want to run this committee very bipartisan because what we’re talking about is bipartisan stuff. There’s nothing that comes in front of this committee that should be political at all.”
“But if I perceive it to be, you’ll hear from me, and I’ll make adjustments as needed, and we as a committee will make adjustments if needed. So, when you’re making a decision and when you’re responding to us, just give us the facts, not your political opinion, and your political bias. We deal with that every single day on both sides of the aisle. As I say it again, I do not want that in this committee at all, and I’ll hold the members accountable, and I’ll hold myself accountable to do it as the same.”
On the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s $1 Billion Budget Request:
“So, you’re going to be approaching a billion dollars… At the same time, we’re trying to shrink the federal government. We’re trying to use efficiencies. I mean, one of the things we try to do is be more efficient. What type of technology are you using to try to offset this?”
“Let’s just use real world, right? Our payables and receivables office doesn’t have near as many people in it as it used to. Our payroll department doesn’t have near as many people in it as it used to because of the new technology that’s available to us. And I would say most of the research in accounting offices around the country have shrunk considerably. So, what type of technology have you changed to be able to help your efficiencies? Because we’re cutting all across government so it’s hard for us to justify a $120 million increase, which is roughly 15% for GAO.”
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