Congress Should Take the Appointment Power for Its Own Agencies

Early last year President Trump fired the Librarian of Congress allegedly for her promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the agency, amid a string of firings of top government officials appointed by prior presidents. But unlike with other firings, the Librarian of Congress runs an agency that primarily serves Congress, not the President. That’s a problem, and Republicans in the House quietly agreed. But another even more significant agency needs the same fix. That’s why this week we signed onto a letter to Congressional leaders about fixing the same issue at the Government Accountability Office.

Firing the Librarian of Congress

The power of the President to fire Congress’s top librarian poses a “threat that the Trump administration, or any future administration, could appoint a Librarian who would undermine Congress’s ability to receive trusted confidential advice on policymaking and have access to information resources necessary for policymaking,” our colleagues Daniel Schuman and Chris Nehls of the American Governance Institute wrote. “The Library of Congress is a vast legislative branch agency that provides confidential advice and research support to members of Congress,” they explained. (We wrote about this last year and again in June.)

What if a president fires Congress’s top auditor?

The problem is even worse for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which audits federal spending on behalf of Congress. Its head, the Comptroller General, can sue Executive Branch agencies for withholding federal funds, a power rendered meaningless by the threat of being fired by the President, who that power is meant to hold accountable. Former Republican Rep. Dan Burton recognized this in 1998, saying “It is particularly incongruous for the President to appoint the head of an agency whose exclusive mission is supporting Congressional oversight of the branch of government that the President heads.”

Lately Republicans have proposed cutting GAO’s powers and funds. Instead, GAO’s power to audit should be strengthened. This week signed onto a letter urging Congress to give themselves the power to directly appoint GAO’s head. (More on GAO at the First Branch Forecast.)

By historical quirk, the heads of the Library of Congress, the Government Publishing Office, and the Government Accountability Office are appointed through nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate, like most federal agencies, which is how President Trump has the authority to fire them. But these three agencies today primarily support Congress, not the President.

House Republicans pass bill to fix two agencies

Republicans in the House recognized that this is a problem for two of the agencies. In June and then again this month the House passed a Republican-sponsored bill to change the appointment process for the Librarian of Congress and the head of the Government Publishing Office to remove the President from the equation. In committee, the bill passed unanimously. The bill would have those positions appointed directly by the House and Senate. “House passage of my Legislative Branch Agencies Clarification Act is a positive step for Congress and the U.S. Constitution. This bill helps reassert Congress’s Article I responsibilities as well as deliver clarity on the powers exercised by the Legislative and Executive Branches,” sponsor Rep. Morgan Griffith wrote. The bill goes to the Senate next. We urge senators to pass that bill.

The appointment process for the Architect of the Capitol, whose job is to manage Congress’s buildings including the Capitol itself, was already changed like this in 2023 with bipartisan support.

But no bill has been proposed yet to make the same fix for the Government Accountability Office.

Congress Should Take the Appointment Power for Its Own Agencies was originally published by GovTrack and is republished with permission.