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As of May 19, 2024, there are 5119 open recommendations that still need to be addressed. 413 of these are priority recommendations, those that we believe warrant priority attention. Learn more about our priority designation on our Recommendations page.

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301 - 320 of 5119 Recommendations, including 413 Priority Recommendations

Special Operations Forces: Documented Policies and Workforce Planning Needed to Strengthen Civilian Oversight

GAO-24-106372
Diana Maurer
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict develops a staffing plan for the Secretariat for Special Operations that incorporates strategic workforce planning principles, including aligning with the Secretariat's mission and goals, identifying critical skill gaps, and developing strategies to address any gaps. (Recommendation 2)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy finalize their ongoing efforts by documenting an agreement that clarifies their respective administrative roles, including those related to the Secretariat's hiring, office space, and IT needs. (Recommendation 3)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Real Property: More Consistent Monitoring of Asbestos Could Improve Oversight

GAO-24-106324
David Marroni
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
General Services Administration The Administrator of GSA should either implement a plan to ensure that asbestos inspections are conducted in accordance with GSA's current asbestos management policy or revise the policy to incorporate a risk-based approach. Such a plan could include strategies to address funding gaps, a timeline for completing missing inspections or updating the asbestos management policy, and steps to update the IRIS database to allow GSA to better monitor compliance with the policy. (Recommendation 1)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Weapon System Sustainment: DOD Identified Operating and Support Cost Growth but Needs to Improve the Consistency and Completeness of Information to Congress

GAO-24-107378
Diana Maurer
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in coordination with CAPE and the military departments, develops and implements clarifying guidance about what independent cost estimate information to include in the sustainment review submissions to the congressional defense committees to ensure the military departments are consistently presenting sunk costs, the time frames for the independent cost estimates, the cost categories, and the effects of inflation in their critical O&S cost growth information. (Recommendation 1)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

International Military Students: DOD and State Should Assess Vetting Implementation and Strengthen Information Sharing

GAO-24-106421
Diana Maurer, Chelsa L. Kenney
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy—in coordination with the secretaries of the military departments—assess the implementation of vetting procedures for international military students. The assessment should include in-country data collection and the process for sharing information between stakeholders. (Recommendation 1)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy—in coordination with the secretaries of the military departments—take action to mitigate any ongoing factors affecting the implementation of the vetting procedures as identified in the assessment of vetting implementation. (Recommendation 2)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy—in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor—clarify roles and responsibilities for sharing information on issues related to international military students. This should include roles and responsibilities for policy updates, data sharing, and analysis. (Recommendation 3)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor—in collaboration with the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy—clarify roles and responsibilities for sharing information on issues related to international military students. This should include roles and responsibilities for policy updates, data sharing, and analysis. (Recommendation 4)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Biomedical Research: Actions Needed to Adopt Collaboration Practices to Address Research Duplication

GAO-24-106757
Candice N. Wright
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health The Director of ARPA-H should finalize the ARPA-H Interagency Advisory Committee's charter to clearly define how the participating members agree to share information to avoid ARPA-H's unnecessary research duplication with that of HHS and other federal agencies.
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Trusted Traveler Programs: DHS Has Enrollment Processes, but CBP Should Provide Additional Information on Reconsiderations

GAO-24-106314
Tina Won Sherman
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The CBP Commissioner should include written instructions in CBP's trusted traveler program denial and revocation decision letters on how travelers can seek additional information regarding the specific reason(s) for the decision. (Recommendation 1)
Open

When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Autism Research and Support Services: Federal Interagency Coordination and Monitoring Efforts Could Be Further Strengthened

GAO-24-106446
John Dicken
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of Health and Human Services should establish a process for clearly tracking and reporting progress made toward goals established by the IACC for federal autism activities, coordinating with federal partners as appropriate. Such progress tracking should describe where performance is lagging, and why desired results were not achieved, if any. (Recommendation 1)
Open

HHS agreed with GAO's recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when HHS provides its 180 day letter (expected in summer 2024).
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that NIH documents the procedures the Office of National Autism Coordination uses, in its support of the IACC and the National Autism Coordinator, to help ensure federal autism activities are not unnecessarily duplicative. Such documentation should describe the roles and responsibilities of different entities, sources of information used, the time frames for conducting analyses, and how outcomes will be reported. (Recommendation 2)
Open

HHS agreed with GAO's recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when HHS provides its 180 day letter (expected in summer 2024).

Aviation Security: Transportation Security Administration Could Further Improve Officer Engagement

GAO-24-106052
Tina Won Sherman
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8 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction the agency has identified with how TSA manages and recognizes performance. (Recommendation 1)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter that it would take steps to address it by December 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to solicit and use feedback on employees' perceptions of the quality of their performance discussions. In addition, TSA planned to update and provide training for supervisors on performance management, though it was unclear how the training would address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction. These planned steps could help TSA collect additional information on TSO dissatisfaction and enhance supervisory training. To fully address the
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with their opportunities for career development. (Recommendation 2)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by July 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with their opportunities for career development. (Recommendation 3)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by December 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to identify and implement actions to address the root causes of TSO satisfaction it identified, as appropriate. These actions, if implemented as described, should address the intent of our recommendation. When we confirm what steps DHS has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with TSA support for their work-life balance. (Recommendation 4)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by July 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should identify and implement actions, as appropriate, to address the root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with TSA support for their work-life balance. (Recommendation 5)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by December 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to identify and implement actions to address the root causes of TSO satisfaction it identified, as appropriate. These actions, if implemented as described, should address the intent of our recommendation. When we confirm what steps DHS has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should track and monitor airport leadership progress implementing the three actions identified in each airport Local Action Plan to ensure the plans are implemented. (Recommendation 6)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by July 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to track and monitor submission of airports' Local Action Plans and require airports to provide an update on efforts implemented midway through their 2-year action planning cycle. TSA did not specify how it will track and monitor the status of implementation at the end of the cycle. These actions could address the intent of our recommendation if implemented in a manner that provides visibility into airports' progress over time and helps TSA
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should track and monitor whether employees and supervisors discuss the results from Leadership for Engagement Surveys and use those results to inform the development and implementation of individual action plans. (Recommendation 7)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by August 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans for coordinators to document whether discussions of the leadership survey results have occurred, including any reasons why discussions did not occur. These actions, if implemented in a manner that provides TSA leadership with nationwide visibility into whether these steps are being taken as required, should address the intent of our recommendation. When we confirm what steps DHS has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide
Transportation Security Administration The TSA Administrator should conduct an analysis to identify the underlying root causes of TSO dissatisfaction with communication from management. (Recommendation 8)
Open

DHS concurred with this recommendation and said in its comment letter it would take steps to address it by July 2024. Specifically, TSA reported plans to use airports' submitted Local Action Plans to identify root causes on a national level. While the plans could provide useful information for TSA's root cause analysis, it will not provide the complete information TSA needs to obtain quality results if TSA reimplements its Local Action Planning process and analysis carried out in recent years. To fully address our recommendations, TSA's root cause analysis would need to include root causes
Note: the list of open recommendations for the last report may continue on the next page.

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For questions about a specific recommendation, contact the person or office listed with the recommendation. For general information about recommendations, contact GAO's Audit Policy and Quality Assurance office at (202) 512-6100 or apqa@gao.gov.