Reports & Testimonies
GAO’s reports and testimonies give Congress, federal agencies, and the public timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can improve government operations and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
Most Recent Reports
1 - 20 of 58229 Reports
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Estimated Eligibility and Receipt among Food Insecure College Students
About 3.8 million college students experienced food insecurity in 2020. A majority reported multiple instances of eating less than they should or skipping meals because they couldn’t afford enough food. Some college students may qualify for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits—the nation's largest such program for low-income households, formerly known as "food stamps." But they must meet other eligibility criteria specifically for college students, such...
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Federal Facility Security: Preliminary Results Show That Challenges Remain in Guard Performance and Oversight
Federal Protective Service's contracted guards control access to government facilities and screen visitors to detect prohibited items. We testified that our investigators conducted 27 covert tests at certain federal buildings in early 2024, and the guards failed to detect prohibited items—like pepper spray and batons—in about half of them. FPS is working to improve screening by increasing training and analyzing data to identify common causes...
Wind Energy: Technologies and Approaches to Help Address Environmental Effects
Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources globally. Getting electricity from wind can have significant environmental and public health benefits. But the development of wind energy facilities could also change the landscape, affect wildlife, and have other negative environmental effects. In this Technology Assessment, we identified technologies and approaches to help address these effects across a wind facility's life cycle. But challenges...
Financial Management Systems: VA Should Improve Its Risk Response Plans
The Department of Veterans Affairs relies on a decades-old financial management system to help administer its veterans' benefit programs—including pensions, health care, and disability compensation. Since 1998, VA has been working on a replacement system. This Q&A report covers the system's rollout. VA has followed most leading practices. But the system continues to be delayed and costs have increased. Plus, VA doesn't have specific, detailed...
Immigration Enforcement: Arrests, Removals, and Detentions Varied Over Time and ICE Should Strengthen Data Reporting
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforces the nation's immigration laws by arresting, detaining, and removing noncitizens from the United States. We found that in its public reports, ICE understates the total number of people it detains. In its calculations, ICE excludes people who were first booked into certain temporary facilities before being transferred to immigration detention facilities for their time in detention. This exclusion amounts...
National Institute on Aging: Leading Project Management Practices Are Important for Large-Scale Health Data Efforts
The National Institute on Aging's Real-World Data Platform aimed to improve research into Alzheimer's disease by compiling and analyzing real-world data. This data could come from people's health records, apps and sensors, pharmacy claims, and more. We found that NIA hadn't fully implemented leading project management or cost estimating practices for the platform. For example, NIA's cost estimate was anticipated at $312 million over 6...
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance: States' Controls to Address Fraud
Earlier, we estimated that more than $100 billion was lost to fraud in unemployment insurance programs during the pandemic. We also found higher rates of fraud in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. This Q&A report examines state efforts to fight fraud in this program. States were challenged to rapidly start the program and establish anti-fraud measures. Our survey found that states used multiple tools, such...
Transportation Equity: DOT Could Improve Some Performance Goals to Better Assess Progress
People rely on the nation's transportation system to access jobs and more. But the system doesn't serve everyone equally, e.g., those in remote areas. The Department of Transportation has a new strategic goal to reduce inequities and established 14 performance goals to assess progress. One such goal is to increase transit grants for rural or tribal areas. We compared these goals against selected federal performance...
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Tribal Energy: Federal Assistance to Support Microgrid Development
Tribes may face difficulties obtaining reliable and affordable electricity. Microgrids—electricity systems that can operate independently from a traditional electricity grid—can deliver power to tribal communities and protect from grid disruptions due to severe weather. This Q&A report examines financial and technical challenges Tribes face with developing and operating a microgrid, including unique issues complicating efforts in remote Alaska. We explore available federal assistance and recent...
Ukraine Assistance: Actions Needed to Properly Value Defense Articles Provided Under Presidential Drawdown Authority
Presidential Drawdown Authority allows the President to provide defense items such as ammunition and missiles from DOD's inventories to respond to foreign crises. In 2023, DOD notified Congress that it had misvalued items given to Ukraine in FYs 22 and 23 by about $6.2 billion. The law that includes this authority doesn't clearly define "value" as it relates to the authority. Also, DOD doesn't have...
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VA Disability Benefits: Training for Claims Processors Needs to Be Enhanced
In 2023, the Veterans Benefits Administration processed over 2.2 million claims for disability compensation and provided about $136 billion in benefits to veterans with service-connected disabilities. VBA trains thousands of claims processors annually to help them correctly decide veterans' claims. In this testimony, we discuss VBA's progress on our prior recommendations to improve how it plans, designs, implements, and evaluates its training program. As of...
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Nuclear Waste Cleanup: Changes Needed to Address Current and Growing Shortages in Mission-Critical Positions
The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management relies on federal staff to oversee its nuclear waste cleanup from decades of nuclear weapons production and research at locations across the country. Staff at this office oversee cleanup activities such as remediating soil and groundwater and treating radioactive waste. However, we found that this office continues to be understaffed. At the end of FY 2023, it...
Medicaid: Federal Oversight of State Eligibility Redeterminations Should Reflect Lessons Learned after COVID-19
States must determine whether everyone on their Medicaid rolls is still eligible for the program each year. To do so, states should check paperwork, verify income data, and more. Full redeterminations were paused during the pandemic but resumed in April 2023. Millions are expected to lose coverage, including some eligible people. Our Q&A reports that federal Medicaid officials found many states didn't do them properly...
Weapon Systems Annual Assessment: DOD Is Not Yet Well-Positioned to Field Systems with Speed [Reissued with revisions on Jul. 18, 2024]
Our 22nd annual assessment of DOD's weapon systems acquisition finds DOD still struggling to deliver new technologies quickly, even while faced with constantly evolving threats. DOD acknowledged it needed a new approach—creating acquisition pathways to speed up processes. But some programs in the new pathways likely won't deliver much faster than traditional programs. Also, DOD only reported plans to take full advantage of leading product...
Spectrum Management: Key Practices Could Help Address Challenges to Improving Receiver Performance
The FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regulate use of radio-frequency spectrum in the U.S. to help ensure there's enough for airplane equipment, cell phones, and other wireless devices. Improving the devices that receive radio signals could reduce interference, allowing more devices to share spectrum. Why has it been so hard to improve receivers? As an example, older receivers were not designed to...
Financial Services Regulations: Improvements Needed to Policies and Procedures for Regulatory Analysis
After the 2007-2009 financial crisis, regulators issued rules to help banks withstand financial and economic stresses. In doing so, they should have assessed the potential and actual effects—such as costs and benefits—of proposed and final rules. But bank regulators didn't consistently document their analyses of proposed rules and did few reviews of existing rules. The Federal Reserve also hasn't updated its policies for assessing rules...
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Army Corps of Engineers: Additional Steps Needed to Implement Acceleration Reforms
The Army Corps of Engineers conducts feasibility studies to determine whether and how to do water resources projects—e.g., manage flood risks. These studies are to be completed within 3 years, but have often been delayed. A 2014 law set forth 19 reforms to speed up these studies. This Q&A reports that the Corps has taken steps to address 15 of these reforms, but not the...
Army Corps of Engineers: Rental Rates for Concession Operations Need Biennial Review
Private businesses sign leases with the Army Corps of Engineers for the right to sell food, fuel, and other concessions at its public recreational facilities like marinas and campgrounds. This Q&A report explores the Corps' review of such agreements. When it set rental rates back in 1994, the Corps considered opportunities for concession operators to make a fair profit. But it has no documentation to...
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Army Modernization: Actions Needed to Support Fielding New Equipment
The Army has been trying to develop weapons and equipment and put them into use faster. Since FY 2021, the Army has used new approaches to rapidly develop multiple types of modernized equipment. It has fielded 6 new equipment priorities, including upgraded air and missile defenses. It has invested $46.5 billion in these efforts. But sometimes, the Army has put new equipment into the field...