The “hard line” that the CIA drew against GAO oversight in a 1994 would form the basis for their refusal to cooperate for years to come. When the House Committee on Government Reform held a hearing in 2001 regarding the Agency’s refusal to cooperate with Congressional inquiries, one Congressman criticized their approach as a “dated, distorted concept of oversight.” It was this concept, the Congressman argued, that led to the Agency’s refusal “to discuss its approaches to government-wide management reforms and fiscal accountability practices.”

In 1994, CIA’s Director of Congressional Affairs wrote a memo to the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) seeking, and receiving, affirmation of the Agency’s policy for dealing with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The memo not only spelled out the Agency’s “hard line approach” to the GAO, it made explicit the Agency’s intention to not to answer inquiries from the GAO that involve “so called “oversight” information.”

On November 23, 2016, Senator Warren wrote to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to request an investigation into Trump’s Presidential Transition Team, referencing reports of “disarray” and “chaos.” On this basis, and the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, the letter asked that an investigation be conducted and begun “as quickly as possible,” in part because the transition would only last until January 20th. The GAO, however, waited at least a month before beginning the review.