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 58031 Reports
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Wildfire Disasters: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Efforts
Wildfires are growing in size and severity, and the nation is experiencing longer wildfire seasons. In August 2023, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century was on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Numerous federal departments and agencies have roles in wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery. Demand for related federal programs and resources is expected to increase. We testified on: Our ongoing work looking...
Medicaid Managed Care: Additional Federal Action Needed to Fully Leverage New Appeals and Grievances Data
Because states pay Medicaid managed care plans per enrollee—rather than per service—there can be financial incentives for plans to deny or limit needed services. As a safeguard, enrollees can appeal service denials and file grievances if dissatisfied. Starting in 2022, states were required to report some data on appeals and grievances to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services annually. But CMS's oversight is limited...
Intellectual Property: Stronger Fraud Risk Management Could Improve the Integrity of the Trademark System
A trademark is a word, phrase, or symbol that identifies a product or service. Trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office must be tied to goods or services that are being sold. In recent years, an influx of applications included many trademarks that aren't in use. Registrations for such trademarks may include false or inaccurate claims and could be fraudulent. In 2022, USPTO...
Defense Contracts: Better Monitoring Could Improve DOD's Management of Award Lead Times
Before awarding contracts, the government needs time for tasks like evaluating proposals and negotiating to ensure taxpayer funds are spent wisely. That priority is balanced with the need to deliver goods and services quickly. The Department of Defense is working to reduce the time needed for awarding contracts. Award lead times can be a good indicator of contract timeliness. Over the last 4 years, DOD...
Civilian Harm: DOD Should Take Actions to Enhance Its Plan for Mitigation and Response Efforts
In August 2022, the Department of Defense issued a plan to improve how it protects civilians from harm during U.S. military operations. DOD has worked to address the plan's 11 objectives, initially focusing on the 5 deemed most critical. For example, the Army is leading a DOD-wide study to see what personnel are needed to implement the plan. But DOD hasn't addressed 2 key challenges—DOD...
Surface Transportation: DOT Considers Multiple Factors when Choosing the Volpe Center to Conduct Research
The Department of Transportation funds research aimed at making the nation's transportation system safer and more efficient. DOT agencies, nonfederal entities, and the Volpe Center—DOT's fee-for-service innovation center—conduct research. Five DOT agencies committed a total of $50.5 million—13% of their total fiscal year 2022 research funding—to the Volpe Center. The remaining 87% went to universities, businesses, and other entities. DOT officials said they choose to...
Central America: USAID Should Strengthen Staffing and Fraud Risk Management for Initiative Addressing Migration to the U.S.
In 2021, USAID announced Centroamérica Local, a 5-year, $300 million initiative that is empowering local organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to address the root causes of migration to the U.S.—such as poverty, corruption, and violence. Our review of the initiative found: USAID's offices in the 3 countries asked for more staff but haven't yet gotten what they need USAID has taken steps to...
Advanced Air Mobility: Legal Authorities and Issues to Consider for Operations
Advanced Air Mobility is an emerging aviation concept that will use new types of aircraft and technology, such as electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically. Before new aircraft can be used, the FAA needs to certify the designs and regulate how they are operated. In the near term, the FAA plans to use a combination of existing requirements—like air traffic control procedures—and...
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Grants: AmeriCorps Should Take Multiple Actions to Better Manage Fraud Risks
AmeriCorps funds grants—over $900 million in FY 2023—for volunteer and national service programs to address a range of community needs across the country. These grants support projects in areas like disaster recovery, educational support, and environmental stewardship. AmeriCorps has taken some steps to manage potential fraud in its grant programs, such as developing training on what fraud might look like. But it hasn't considered the...
Ukraine: DOD Should Improve Data for Both Defense Article Delivery and End-Use Monitoring
Since February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including an unprecedented amount of equipment. DOD has been delivering this equipment rapidly, sometimes taking days to complete deliveries that typically take weeks. But DOD doesn't have clear guidance for tracking equipment deliveries, and its delivery data may not be accurate. Also, DOD modified its monitoring approach during the...
Freedom of Information Act: Additional Guidance and Reliable Data Can Help Address Agency Backlogs
The Freedom of Information Act requires federal agencies to provide public access to government information. Agencies generally must process FOIA requests within 20 working days, but the government-wide backlog of requests grew over the last decade. Agency FOIA officers cited factors such as staffing challenges and complex requests as contributing to backlogs. The Justice Department, which helps agencies administer FOIA, could improve its backlog guidance...
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FEMA: Opportunities Exist to Address Mission Challenges and Increased Workload
The Federal Emergency Management Agency leads our nation's effort to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. In recent years, FEMA has been called on to help in even more emergencies—stretching its workforce and resources. In this testimony, we discuss our prior work on FEMA's response to challenges such as COVID-19 and sheltering at the southern border. We also discuss FEMA's longstanding challenges related...
Educación Superior: Las Instituciones de Servicio a Hispanos informaron de grandes necesidades de instalaciones e infraestructura digital
To see the version of this page in English, see GAO-24-106162 . Las Instituciones de Servicio a Hispanos (HSI, por sus siglas en inglés), es decir, las universidades con una matrícula de estudiantes universitarios de al menos el 25 por ciento de hispanos, educaron más de 2 millones de estudiantes hispanos durante el año escolar de 2021 a 2022. Sin embargo, estas universidades tienen grandes...
Higher Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Reported Extensive Facility and Digital Infrastructure Needs
Para la versión de esta página en español, ver a GAO-24-107052 . Hispanic-Serving Institutions—colleges with an undergraduate student enrollment that is at least 25% Hispanic—educated over 2 million Hispanic students during the 2021-2022 school year. But these colleges have extensive facility needs. Many have maintenance backlogs, damage from natural disasters, and facilities that need modernization. These colleges also have technology needs—to improve student internet access...
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Anti-Money Laundering: Better Information Needed on Effectiveness of Federal Efforts
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 aims to modernize how federal agencies combat money laundering and other financial crimes. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is responsible for implementing many of the Act's requirements—like assessing how new technologies can help detect such crimes. But FinCEN has yet to provide a full update to Congress and the public on its progress meeting these requirements. Also, the government...
Science & Tech Spotlight: Combating Deepfakes
Deepfakes are videos, audio, or images that seem real but have been manipulated with AI. They've been used to try to influence elections and to create non-consensual pornography. Researchers are developing new ways to detect deepfakes, such as AI models that spot color abnormalities. And authentication methods, like digital watermarks, can help prove that a video or image has been altered. But simply detecting deepfakes...
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Defense Contracting: DOD Should Encourage Greater Use of Existing Expertise to Review Indemnification Requests
The unusually risky work that DOD's contractors sometimes do—e.g., building hypersonic weapons—may not be covered by insurance. As such, contractors rely on government indemnification to shield them from financial liability if there's a catastrophic incident. Recently however, DOD has had challenges negotiating contractor requests for indemnification. We found indemnification requests are rare and mostly approved. DOD has an insurance review team to help evaluate requests...
DHS Annual Assessment: Most Programs Are Meeting Current Goals, but Some Continue to Face Cost and Schedule Challenges [Reissued with revisions on Mar. 7, 2024]
This is our 9th annual assessment of the Department of Homeland Security's major acquisition programs. We reviewed 16 programs with DHS-approved baselines—which establish goals for how the system being acquired should perform, when it should be delivered, and what it should cost. Fifteen of these programs met their cost and schedule goals, but most of these programs have updated their goals at least once since...
Cybersecurity: Improvements Needed in Addressing Risks to Operational Technology
Operational technology systems control processes or production, and are often used in critical infrastructure—e.g., a system of sensors, controllers, and actuators that open and close the valves in oil pipelines. Cyberattacks pose a significant threat to these systems. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency provides technical assistance to help critical infrastructure owners and operators address those cyber risks. But owners and operators had some challenges...
Facial Recognition Technology: Federal Law Enforcement Agency Efforts Related to Civil Rights and Training
We testified about our prior work on federal law enforcement's use of facial recognition technology. In 2023, we reviewed 7 agencies in the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice that had reported using the technology to support criminal investigations. All 7 agencies initially used facial recognition services without requiring staff to take related training. Two agencies required it as of April 2023. Also, we reported...