GAO Comptroller General Walker Announces Resignation, Plans To Lead New Foundation

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 20 Feb 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, on Friday announced plans to resign to lead a new foundation that will focus on long-term fiscal issues, such as budget deficits and entitlement program spending, CQ Today reports. Walker has led GAO since November 1998 (Clarke, CQ Today, 2/15). His resignation will take effect on March 12. GAO Chief Operating Officer Gene Dodaro will serve as acting comptroller general until a permanent replacement is found (Williamson, Washington Post, 2/16).

In a news release on Friday, Walker said that he will serve as president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, where he will focus on the long-term fiscal issues that the U.S. will face as the baby boom generation reaches retirement age. Walker has warned repeatedly about such issues during his tenure at GAO (CQ Today, 2/15). The Peterson Foundation seeks to "enhance public understanding of the nature and urgency of selected key sustainability challenges that threaten America's future," such as "unsustainable" growth in entitlement program spending, according to a description on the foundation's Web site (Washington Post, 2/16). Peterson, co-founder and senior chair of the Blackstone Group, has promised to contribute at least $1 billion to the foundation (CQ Today, 2/15).

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