Bid Protests, Appropriations Law, & Other Legal Work

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Decisions & FAQs

Overview

Occasionally, GAO issues other legal decisions pursuant to statutory mandates, upon congressional request, or stemming from our audit work.

Other Decisions for the Past Year

Department of Housing and Urban Development—Applicability of the Congressional Review Act to Fair Housing Act Guidance on Assistance Animals

B-331171: Dec 17, 2020

Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Current Jurisdictional, Property, and Privacy Legal Issues Regarding the Commercial and Recreational Use of Drones (Correspondence)

B-330570: Sep 16, 2020

Request for a Congressional Review Act Opinion on IRS Notice 2020-65

B-332517: Sep 15, 2020

Federal Communications Commission—Applicability of the Congressional Review Act to Ligado Amendment to License Modification Applications

B-332233: Aug 13, 2020

Letter Regarding Report of Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery

B-332417: Aug 10, 2020

FAQs

  • Comptroller General decisions and opinions are identified by a B-number and date. Some decisions predating 1995 were published in Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. Those decisions have B-numbers but are generally identified by volume, page number, and the year the decision was issued (e.g., 73 Comp. Gen. 77 (1994)). At the beginning of each volume is a "Table of Decision Numbers" cross-referencing B-numbers to the pages in that volume. See Bid Protest FAQs and Appropriation Law FAQs for more details.

    Generally, our decisions and opinions are publicly released but not always on the same day they are decided. If decisions and opinions contain protected information, we must create redacted versions for the public that omit protected information. See 4 C.F.R. § 21.12. We typically publicly release versions 2 to 3 weeks after the decision date. See How can I keep up-to-date on new Comptroller General decisions? for ways to get notified whenever we make a decision publicly available.

    For more details on the timing of our decisions and opinions, see:
    Procedures and Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions GAO-06-1064SP, September 5, 2006

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    GAO no longer adjudicates these claims. In the mid-1990s, Congress enacted two laws that transferred several functions from GAO to other government agencies. You can learn more about these functions at Functions Transferred to the Executive Branch.

    No. They can be found on the Government Printing Office’s website, pertinent agency websites, and legal databases such as Lexis and Westlaw.

    No, but databases such as Lexis and Westlaw have this capability.


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