Accounting and Auditing Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Government Operations.
Accounting and Auditing Act - Title I: Enforcement of Decisions and Settlements - Authorizes the Comptroller General to bring a suit for declaratory and injunctive relief when he has reasonable cause to believe that any official of the executive branch is about to expend, obligate, or authorize the expenditure or obligation of public funds in an illegal or erroneous manner. Directs the Comptroller General to institute a civil action for such relief in the District Court for the District of Columbia. Title II: Subpena Power - Authorizes the Comptroller General to sign and issue subpenas requiring the production of negotiated contract and subcontract records and records of other non-Federal persons or organizations to which he has a right of access by law or agreement. Title III: Budget, Fiscal, and Program Information for the Congress - Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) construct a continuing program to ascertain Congressional needs for budgetary, fiscal, and program information; (2) assist Congressional committees in developing specifications for legislative requirements for executive branch evaluations of Federal programs and reports thereon to Congress; and (3) monitor reporting requirements of Congress and Congressional committees, and recommend improvements to enhance their usefulness and to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary reporting. Title IV: Access to Records - Authorizes the Comptroller General to institute a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the furnishing of any information, books, documents, papers, or records which have not been made available to him upon request. Title V: Profits Study - Authorizes the Comptroller General to make selective studies of the profits of major Government contractors, for the purpose of comparing profits from Government business with those from commercial sources and ascertaining whether proper allocation of costs are made to Government business. Permits the Comptroller General to audit and inspect any books or records necessary for his calculations.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 21, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 21, 1973: Referred to House Committee on Government Operations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CHET HOLIFIELD (D-CA) introduced it on December 21, 1973, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 21, 1973, 19256 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19256 days ago, on December 21, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers