You've just blindly asserted a whole bunch of things without laying out any sort of supporting arguments. What exactly makes the GAO not "part of the executive branch" ? My understanding is that "branches" are merely a framework used for describing government, not a prescriptive org chart. And how do the GAO's employees get paid, if not by a system that is now under the control of the autocratic Executive?

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gwerbin 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The branches are explicitly defined in the Constitution.

	▲	mindslight 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		What we consider an the branches are defined in the Constitution, but my point is they are not simply defined as the top-level in a hierarchy of organizations, but rather behaviorally based on what function is being performed.

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Jtsummers 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> What exactly makes the GAO not "part of the executive branch" ?

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/702

>> (a)The Government Accountability Office is an instrumentality of the United States Government independent of the executive departments.

The law establishing it also establishes it as independent.

	▲	mindslight 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Sure, that is what is written down. But as a necessary part of its operation, there is a whole lot of executive power being exercised as well, which the unitary executive theory says would fall under the authority of the president.

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5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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