New Bill Gives Congress Near-Total Control Over Key Agency Leaders: Librarian, GAO Head, and GPO Director Appointments Shift

This legislation fundamentally changes how three crucial, non-political government roles—the Librarian of Congress, the Comptroller General (who runs the Government Accountability Office, or GAO), and the Director of the Government Publishing Office (GPO)—are appointed and removed. Instead of the current process, Congress would take near-total control over the selection process through a new commission system and require a special resolution for appointment.

The Commission: Congressional Leaders Only

Under this bill, the power to select candidates for these critical roles is concentrated entirely within Congressional leadership. For the Librarian of Congress and the GPO Director, new appointment commissions are created, made up exclusively of the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, and two members from the relevant joint committees (SEC. 1 & SEC. 3). This means the selection process for officials who are supposed to be non-partisan—like the person running the Library of Congress—would be handled exclusively by the most partisan figures in Washington. Once the commission selects a single candidate, Congress must appoint that person using a concurrent resolution.

Job Security on Steroids: The Removal Hurdle

If you’re the new Librarian of Congress or the GPO Director, this bill gives you some serious job security. Currently, these officials are subject to various removal processes, but this bill sets a new, extremely high bar: they can only be removed by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members in both the House and the Senate (SEC. 1 & SEC. 3). Think about that for a second. That’s a supermajority requirement, meaning it would take massive bipartisan agreement to fire someone. In today’s political environment, that threshold makes removal incredibly difficult, potentially shielding an underperforming official for years, even if a simple majority of Congress thinks they should go. For the average person, this matters because these agencies—especially the GPO, which prints government documents—need responsive leadership.

The GAO Head Gets a Procedural Tweak

The Comptroller General, who heads the GAO (the government’s main watchdog and auditor), also sees changes, though they are more procedural. Like the others, their appointment would be based on a commission’s recommendation and confirmed by a concurrent resolution (SEC. 2). The removal process for the Comptroller General is also changed from a joint resolution to a concurrent resolution. While this seems like a technical change, it is a significant shift in legislative procedure, essentially streamlining Congressional action for this key accountability role. However, the Deputy Comptroller General’s removal process remains a joint resolution.

What This Means for Accountability

This bill centralizes significant power over key government institutions within the legislative branch. While increased Congressional oversight can be beneficial, concentrating the initial candidate selection process exclusively among top party leaders raises concerns about partisanship creeping into traditionally neutral roles. For the taxpayer, the main takeaway is the removal process for the Librarian and GPO Director: setting the bar at three-fifths essentially guarantees a 10-year term, regardless of performance, unless the official commits a major offense that unites both sides of the aisle. If you rely on the GAO for independent audits or the Library of Congress for research, this change means the people running those institutions will owe their job security not to the quality of their work, but to a political structure designed to make firing them nearly impossible.