Reports & Testimonies

This Q&A report examines how the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Homeland Security Investigations agencies coordinate on drug investigations. We found: DEA authorized an average of over 4,000 HSI agents per year to participate in drug investigations in FY 2019-2023 DEA doesn't track the time it takes to process HSI agent requests to participate in drug investigations DEA and HSI haven't implemented the agent training...

States get $16.5 billion a year in federal funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. States must audit their use of these funds and report the results to the Department of Health and Human Services. Recent audits found 162 deficiencies—56 of which were severe. For example, auditors found a state that didn't report required information for grants it gave with federal funds. 105...

The Department of Defense relies on its civilian employees and contractors in Japan and Guam to provide services such as engineering, food service, and teaching. They may receive health care at military facilities but only on a space-available basis—after active-duty service members and their families. Accessing health care through local providers can be difficult. For example, in Japan, they face language barriers and must pay...

The Medical Reserve Corps provides volunteer medical and other services to communities in times of emergency. Health and Human Services—the leader of the nation's public health emergency response—oversees, supports, and relies on information from the Medical Reserve Corps about numbers and locations of available volunteers. However, we found that data on the number of Medical Reserve Corps' volunteers was not always up to date, and...

Federal police forces play a role in protecting federal property, employees, and visitors. Their work environment and duties have changed recently due to increased threats, staffing shortages, and more—raising questions about whether their pay and retirement should change. Federal police officers are not considered federal law enforcement officers for the purposes of pay and retirement benefits. Their retirement benefits accrue at a lower rate than...

To make lobbying the federal government more transparent, paid lobbyists and firms must: Register with Congress File quarterly reports on who lobbied and what they did File semiannual reports on political contributions As in past years, we found that most registered lobbyists filed reports, but some reports were inaccurate. For example, 21% of quarterly reports listed lobbyists who didn't fully disclose their relevant prior federal...

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has received billions in funding in recent years to keep Americans safe by protecting the border and countering crime, illegal drugs, and instability abroad. This testimony discusses our prior work, such as challenges the bureau faced in determining the effectiveness of assistance it provides in foreign countries. For example, we found that the bureau was unable...

In 2023, the State Department's processing of passport applications took weeks longer than usual. As a result, some people had to change or cancel travel plans. Causes of the delays included a record number of applications as well as staff shortages stemming from a 2017 hiring freeze. To resolve the backlog, State required passport staff to work up to 24 hours of overtime per month...

According to the Small Business Administration, minorities, women, tribal, and other communities have faced barriers to accessing grants, loans, and training to start and grow businesses. In 2021, SBA launched the Community Navigator Pilot Program, partnering with local organizations to broaden access to these resources. SBA data suggests the program served a higher proportion of these groups compared to other SBA business assistance programs. But...

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is a federally funded, nonprofit corporation. It was established to fund and evaluate research aimed at helping patients, doctors, and policymakers make better health care decisions. This institute is required to have its financial statements audited annually, and we're required to review those audits. The institute's auditor issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on its FY 2024 financial statements, concluding that...

Some federal grant recipients pass some of their award funding to subrecipients. However, there have been issues with the completeness and accuracy of information about these subawards. This can make it challenging to track where subaward funds are ultimately spent. While grant recipients are responsible for overseeing their subawards, federal agencies must ensure that they are effectively doing so. This includes reviewing audit findings and...

U.S. and foreign banking regulators work together to develop international capital standards for large banks through the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The Committee issued final Basel III standards in 2017 and 2019. U.S. regulators and the Committee aimed to limit variability in the way banks calculate risks under the capital standards to produce more comparable measures. U.S. regulators also aimed to better align the...

We testified that the Navy hasn't increased the number of ships in its fleet over the past 20 years—despite nearly doubling its shipbuilding budget. Its acquisition practices consistently result in growing costs and delivery delays. For example, the Navy's frigate program began construction before completing ship design and expects the first ship to deliver at least 3 years late. As adversary threats grow, the Navy...

We testified about how to improve the federal approach to disaster recovery. In 2018, there were 14 disasters in the U.S. that caused more than $1 billion in damages. In 2024, there were 27. This increase has severely strained federal recovery efforts and highlighted recovery issues we've identified. For example, more than 30 federal entities assist with recovery—with different programs and requirements. This fragmented approach...

The Small Business Administration made or guaranteed more than $1 trillion in loans and grants to over 10 million small businesses during the pandemic. SBA used a four-step process for managing fraud risks in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. One step was to refer likely fraudulent applications to its inspector general for investigation. But the IG was unable to fully investigate nearly 2...

Federal agencies must address the risks and challenges that come with their move to cloud computing. What lessons can they learn from the private sector? We surveyed 18 companies about their practices in areas that pose key cloud computing challenges: acquisition, cybersecurity, and workforce development. The companies shared 19 leading practices in these areas, such as negotiating clear terms and agreements for cloud services and...

U.S. ports are critical to the economy, handling trillions of dollars in trade each year. Protecting them from natural disasters like floods and hurricanes is key to ensuring goods can move reliably through the supply chain. Federal agencies offer funding to improve ports' natural disaster resilience. But the amount of funding used specifically for resilience-related projects at ports is unknown. Each port has primary responsibility...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures over $10 trillion in deposits and protects your money if your FDIC-insured bank fails. We audit and issue opinions annually on financial statements of FDIC's insurance funds and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded). We found the statements were reliable and controls over financial reporting were effective in 2024.

DOD established a pilot program to award certain contracts, without competition, to companies organized as “employee stock ownership plans.” ESOPs provide people with direct ownership of the company they work for and other benefits. DOD's guidance on the pilot didn't give contracting officers enough information to determine whether companies were eligible for the program. As a result, DOD awarded a contract to an ineligible company...

The Office of Personnel Management's Pathways Programs serve as a pipeline for bringing young employees into the federal government. But the programs have seen a 64% decrease in the number of hires since FY 2013. Although efforts have increased the number of hires, OPM should do more to improve the programs, including: Getting more data on year-to-year hiring fluctuations Collecting feedback from program participants Looking...