The House passed by voice vote today the The Government Accountability Office Act of 2008 (HR 5683). The bill was crafted to restore pay raises that were denied to mid-level employees in 2006 and 2007 when then-Comptroller General revised the performance system at GAO. The bill, however, would also create an office of inspector general within the GAO. However, before the bill could be approved under suspension of the rules, Democrats had to strip a few controversial provisions that would have allowed the GAO to administer oaths to agency employees; obtain information on Medicare Part D (the drug benefit) from HHS; and force the FDA to give the GAO information on drug pricing information, even if that information is considered a trade secret. When the bill was passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, ranking member Tom Davis (R-VA) issued a statement with this revealing bit of logic: By increasing GAO's investigative powers, I am concerned we will trigger a chilling effect on GAO's relationship with federal agencies — resulting in agencies being less forthcoming in providing information and diminishing GAO's role in improving government operations and promoting best practices in the federal government. Maybe we should apply this logic to contractor oversight -- restrict investigative authority and contractors will be banging down the Oversight Committee's door in a fevered rush to declare their own misdeeds.