GAO Glossary of Terms and Definition (September 2005)

Agency

No one definition of this term has general, governmentwide applicability. “Agency” and related terms, like “executive agency” or “federal agency,” are defined in different ways in different laws and regulations. For example, the provisions of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 relating to the preparation of the President’s budget specifically define “agency” to include the District of Columbia government but exclude the legislative branch or the Supreme Court (31 U.S.C. § 1101).

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