Library Liaison
Government Accountability
- Government Accountability OfficeThe "investigative arm of Congress" and "the congressional watchdog." GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps improve the performance and accountability of the federal government. Many of the GAO reports are available online; others are available in Case Library in the government documents microfiche collection.
- GAO Reports and Comptroller General DecisionsHosted on the HeinOnline database, this contains reports on audits, surveys, investigations, and evaluations of federal programs, including all published reports, testimonials, correspondence and special publications.
- Oversight.gova publicly accessible, searchable website containing the latest public reports from Federal Inspectors General who are members of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).
- Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity & EfficiencyThe directory portion of this website links to the individual websites of Inspectors General of the federal government. Many of those websites include the reports of their investigations and audits.
Inspectors General
Each executive branch agency has an Inspector General. The primary responsibilities of the Inspectors General are to detect and prevent fraud, waste, abuse, and violations of law and to promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the operations of the Federal Government.
Inspectors General issue special and/or annual reports. Check agencies' websites or do a keyword search in the catalog for authors with the phrase "inspector general".
Investigative hearings
Congress holds investigative hearings. Search ProQuest Congressional to locate them. Results of investigations may result in reports. Search Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) or the libraries' catalog. If you only know the popular name of the report, try using Popular Names of U.S. Government Reports Case Docs Reference J83 .L52 1984 to determine the official title of the report.
Other places to look
Elections, Opinion polls and newspaper investigations, as well as books and articles about topics like welfare, the war in Iraq, etc. are other sources of evaluation.
Lobbying
- Lobbying Disclosure Act DatabaseSearchable database for current Senate lobbying information, including contributions and giftrule searching. Required by the Disclosure Act of 1995 and collected by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.
- Lobbying Registration and Disclosure for the House of RepresentativesOfficial site for the US House of Representatives Lobbying Disclosure information, from the Office of the Clerk.
- Lobbying Registration and Disclosure for the SenateOfficial site for the US Senate lobbying.
Search the catalog for the subject headings