FY2027 Budget Request $860M, 3,210 FTEs, Five Priorities

GAO-26-900719 Published: Apr 15, 2026. Publicly Released: Apr 15, 2026.

Fast Facts

In fiscal year 2025, GAO's work yielded $62.7 billion in financial benefits for the federal government.

In this testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, Acting U.S. Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown discusses GAO's FY 2027 budget request.

Our budget request will enable GAO to continue to meet key areas of importance to Congress and the nation including fraud prevention, national security, science and technology, cybersecurity, and health care costs. These resources will also support GAO's IT evolution and critical building maintenance needs.

The U.S. Capitol and the words GAO Testimony to Congress.

Highlights

What GAO Found

GAO’s work continues to make an impact. Executive branch agencies use GAO’s work to improve their operations, performance, and efficiency, and Congress uses it to inform key legislative decisions. For example, consistent with GAO’s recommendation to Congress, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act requires the Social Security Administration to permanently share its Death Master File with the Department of the Treasury to help prevent payments to deceased individuals. This will save millions of dollars each year.

To meet congressional demand for GAO’s work, GAO is requesting $860 million in appropriated dollars for fiscal year (FY) 2027. This is a 5.9 percent increase over the FY 2026 enacted level. GAO’s FY 2027 budget request also uses $50 million in offsetting receipts, for $910 million in total budget authority for the fiscal year. The FY 2027 budget request will support 3,210 full-time equivalents, a reduction of 4.2 percent compared to FY 2026 and 10.2 percent since the end of FY 2024.

With these resources, GAO will continue to focus on the priority needs of the Congress, including five key areas of importance: advancing efforts to address fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs; evaluating national security activities; assessing the impacts of emerging science and technology issues; assessing efforts to address evolving cybersecurity threats; and analyzing health care spending.

GAO also plans to make targeted, critical investments in its information technology systems, advanced analytic capabilities, and cybersecurity. To help drive efficiency, an important focus will be increasing the use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Why GAO Did This Study

GAO’s mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO’s work spans the full breadth and scope of the federal government’s responsibilities.

Congress relies on GAO’s nonpartisan, objective, and high-quality work to help inform congressional deliberations as well as oversight of the executive branch. GAO routinely conducts work for the Chairs or Ranking Members of over 90 percent of all standing committees.

Since 2002, GAO’s work has resulted in over $1.51 trillion in financial benefits and almost 30,800 program and operational benefits that helped create or change laws, improve public safety and other services, and promote better management throughout the government.

For more information, contact Dave Powner at pownerd@gao.gov.

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Topics

GAO Mission and Operations Budgets Cybersecurity Budget requests Artificial intelligence Government efficiency pandemics Improper payments National security Emerging technologies Budget appropriations