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As of May 9, 2024, there are 5118 open recommendations that still need to be addressed. 412 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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4981 - 5000 of 5118 Recommendations, including 412 Priority Recommendations

Management Report: Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Internal Controls

GAO-13-420R
Cheryl E. Clark
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue should direct the appropriate IRS officials to establish procedures to implement the updated IRM, including required steps to follow to prevent (1) remittance perfection technicians and (2) all other employee groups that handle hard-copy taxpayer receipts and related sensitive information as part of their job responsibilities from gaining access to command codes not required as part of their designated job duties.
Open

During fiscal year 2021, the SB/SE and TE/GE organizations established procedures in the applicable IRM sections to prevent employee groups who handle hard-copy taxpayer receipts and related sensitive information from gaining access to command codes not required as part of their designated job duties. During fiscal year 2022, IRS officials told us that the TAS organization will address this recommendation in the future. As a result, this recommendation remains open as of September 30, 2022.

DOD Financial Management: Significant Improvements Needed in Efforts to Address Improper Payment Requirements

GAO-13-227
Asif A. Khan
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), with regard to estimating improper payments, to establish and implement key quality assurance procedures, such as reconciliations, to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the sampled populations.
Open

DOD agreed with this recommendation. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) developed an inventory of approximately 80 DOD systems related to disbursing functions. As of March 2024, DOD estimated that by May 2025, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and DOD components will have established financial management system agreements for improper payments testing. These signed agreements will require DOD components to affirm the completeness of the payments in each financial management system to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the sampled populations. In addition

Missile Defense: Opportunity to Refocus on Strengthening Acquisition Management

GAO-13-432
Cristina T. Chaplain
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2 Open Recommendations
2 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
In order to strengthen investment decisions, place the chosen investments on a sound acquisition footing, provide a better means of tracking investment progress, and improve the management and transparency of the U.S. missile defense approach in Europe, the Secretary of Defense should direct MDA's new Director to include in its resource baseline cost estimates all life cycle costs, specifically the operations and support costs, from the military services in order to provide decision makers with the full costs of ballistic missile defense systems.
Open – Partially Addressed

DOD agreed that decisionmakers should have insight into the full lifecycle costs of the Missile Defense Systems programs but disagreed with MDA's responsibility to account for the military services' portion of the operations and sustainment costs for such programs. In 2020, DOD requested that we close this recommendation as implemented, citing MDA's preparation of joint cost estimates (JCE) with the military services to capture their respective operations and sustainment costs. However, in February 2022, we found that not all applicable programs have a JCE as required by policy and the
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
In order to strengthen investment decisions, place the chosen investments on a sound acquisition footing, provide a better means of tracking investment progress, and improve the management and transparency of the U.S. missile defense approach in Europe, the Secretary of Defense should direct MDA's new Director to stabilize the acquisition baselines, so that meaningful comparisons can be made over time that support oversight of those acquisitions.
Open – Partially Addressed

DOD agreed with our recommendation but noted that MDA has the authority to adjust program baselines to remain responsive to evolving requirements and threats. We acknowledged MDA's authority to adjust program baselines and explained that our recommendation did not intend to limit such authority, but rather address issues we found, such as shifting content and costs between baselines without clear traceability. In 2020, DOD requested that we close this recommendation as implemented based on MDA's addition of a list of significant changes to its annual baseline reporting. MDA officials said that

Managing For Results: Agencies Should More Fully Develop Priority Goals under the GPRA Modernization Act

GAO-13-174
J. Christopher Mihm
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Office of Management and Budget When such revisions are made, the Director of OMB should work with the Performance Improvement Council to test and implement these provisions.
Open

As of July 2023, OMB has not taken action to address this recommendation. According to information provided by OMB and PIC staff in June 2015, although OMB revised its guidance as we recommended, it did not work with the PIC to test implementation of these provisions. Instead, they told us that both PIC and OMB staff ensure agencies are implementing these provisions of their guidance when reviewing agency priority goal (APG) quarterly update submissions. However, our periodic analyses of agencies' APG updates since that time, including updates from June 2022, has continued to find that
Office of Management and Budget In addition, as OMB works with agencies to enhance Performance.gov to include additional information about APGs, the Director of OMB should ensure that agencies adhere to OMB's guidance for website updates by providing a description of how input from congressional consultations was incorporated into each APG.
Open

As of July 2023, OMB has taken limited actions to address this recommendation. In July 2017, OMB staff said that they planned on highlighting the requirement for congressional consultation as they updated the 2018-2019 agency priority goals (APG). However, the reporting templates for individual APGs at that time did not contain space to provide this information. In its July 2020 guidance, OMB directed agencies to highlight congressional input, if such input was relevant to setting a specific goal, in the APG overview section of the template. Our periodic analysis of APG updates, including

IRS Website: Long-Term Strategy Needed to Improve Interactive Services

GAO-13-435
James (Jay) R. McTigue, Jr
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service should direct appropriate officials to develop a long-term strategy to improve web services provided to taxpayers, in accordance with Howto.gov and other federal guidance outlined in our report. To accomplish this, the IRS should establish a numerical or other measureable goal to improve taxpayer satisfaction and a timeframe for achieving it.
Open

IRS has made progress in improving its online services strategy, as we recommended, but as of March 2024, IRS has not yet completed its efforts. IRS's Office of Online Services reported that it is working to establish a plan to develop a suite of customer satisfaction metrics, goals for those metrics and a regular reporting structure. According to officials, IRS will track measures such as satisfaction, trust, effectiveness, ease and efficiency, to align with the Office of Management and Budget's A-11 requirements. IRS plans to establish a baseline for these measures in April 2024, which will

Climate Change: Future Federal Adaptation Efforts Could Better Support Local Infrastructure Decision Makers

GAO-13-242
David Trimble
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2 Open Recommendations
2 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
U.S. Global Change Research Program
Priority Rec.
To improve the resilience of the nation's infrastructure to climate change, the Executive Director of the United States Global Change Research Program or other federal entity designated by the Executive Office of the President should work with relevant agencies to identify for decision makers the "best available" climate-related information for infrastructure planning and update this information over time.
Open – Partially Addressed

As of January 2023, according to officials from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is developing a Climate Resilience Information System (CRIS) that will provide access to the "best available" climate-related information. OSTP, in coordination with USGCRP and NOAA, released the Climate Mapping for Resilience Assessments (CMRA) portal in September 2022. CMRA is an example of the type of information resource that CRIS will more efficiently enable, once fully established. In addition, On March 22, 2023, OSTP released a report
U.S. Global Change Research Program
Priority Rec.
To improve the resilience of the nation's infrastructure to climate change, the Executive Director of the United States Global Change Research Program or other federal entity designated by the Executive Office of the President should work with relevant agencies to clarify sources of local assistance for incorporating climate-related information and analysis into infrastructure planning, and communicate how such assistance will be provided over time.
Open – Partially Addressed

In January 2023, officials from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) noted that regional science organizations, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Action Partnerships, work to provide climate information to regional and local agencies. These officials also said that the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) continues work on the development of the Climate Resilience Information System (CRIS), which will allow for more efficient development of regionally- and locally-tailored resources. They further stated that the evolving

Federal Employees' Compensation Act: Case Examples Illustrate Vulnerabilities That Could Result in Improper Payments or Overlapping Benefits

GAO-13-386
Seto J. Bagdoyan
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Congress Congress should consider granting Labor the additional authority it is seeking to access wage data to help verify claimants' reported income and help ensure the proper payment of benefits.
Open

No legislation introduced as of February 2024. The Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2015 (S. 2051, title V) was introduced in the 114th Congress. It would have allowed DOL to access wage data, as GAO suggested in April 2013, from the National Directory of New Hires to improve the integrity of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act program, among other actions. If similar legislation were introduced in the 118th Congress and enacted, this legislation could help to prevent and detect improper payments in the Federal Employees' Compensation Act program.

Military Bases: Opportunities Exist to Improve Future Base Realignment and Closure Rounds

GAO-13-149
Brian Lepore
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Congress If cost savings are to be a goal of any future BRAC round, Congress may wish to consider amending the BRAC statute by elevating the priority DOD and the BRAC Commission give to potential costs and savings as a selection criterion for making base closure and realignment recommendations.
Open

All the Matters for Congressional Consideration are contingent on the implementation of another round of BRAC. As of March 2024, Congress has not authorized another round of BRAC.
Congress If Congress authorizes additional BRAC rounds, it may wish to consider amending BRAC legislation by requiring the Secretary of Defense to formally establish specific goals that the department expects to achieve from a future BRAC process.
Open

All the Matters for Congressional Consideration are contingent on the implementation of another round of BRAC. As of March 2024, Congress has not authorized another round of BRAC.
Congress If Congress authorizes additional BRAC rounds, it may wish to consider amending BRAC legislation by requiring the Secretary of Defense to propose selection criteria as necessary to help achieve those goals, if necessary and appropriate.
Open

All the Matters for Congressional Consideration are contingent on the implementation of another round of BRAC. As of March 2024, Congress has not authorized another round of BRAC.
Congress If Congress decides to authorize a future base closure round, it may want to consider whether to limit or prohibit the BRAC Commission from adding a contingent element to any recommendation and, if permitted, under what conditions.
Open

All the Matters for Congressional Consideration are contingent on the implementation of another round of BRAC. As of March 2024, Congress has not authorized another round of BRAC.

Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Fees: Major Changes Needed to Align Fee Revenues with Program Costs

GAO-13-268
Susan J. Irving
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Congress In light of declining discretionary budgets, to reduce or eliminate the reliance of the AQI program on taxpayer funding, Congress should consider allowing USDA to set AQI fees to recover the aggregate estimated costs of AQI services--thereby allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to set fee rates to recover the full costs of the AQI program.
Open

As of March 2024, Congress had not passed legislation to give the Secretary of Agriculture authority to set fee rates to fully recover the aggregate costs of agricultural quarantine inspection (AQI) services, as GAO suggested in March 2013. The current AQI fee authority does not permit the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set AQI fees to recover the aggregate estimated costs of AQI services (21 U.S.C. ? 136a). Authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to set fee rates to recover the full costs of the AQI program would save the federal government money by reducing the program's reliance on U.S
Congress Congress should consider amending USDA's authorization to assess AQI fees on bus companies, private vessels, and private aircraft and include in those fees the costs of AQI services for the passengers on those buses, private vessels, and private aircraft.
Open

As of March 2024, Congress had not passed legislation to give the Secretary of Agriculture authority to assess agricultural quarantine inspection (AQI) fees on private vessels, private aircraft, and commercial buses and include in those fees the costs of AQI services for the passengers on those vehicles. The current AQI fee authority does not permit the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assess AQI fees on private vessels, private aircraft, and commercial buses and to recover, through those fees, the costs of AQI services for the passengers on those vehicles (21 U.S.C. ? 136a).

End-Stage Renal Disease: CMS Should Improve Design and Strengthen Monitoring of Low-Volume Adjustment

GAO-13-287
James Cosgrove
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Priority Rec.
To reduce the incentive for facilities to restrict their service provision to avoid reaching the LVPA treatment threshold, the Administrator of CMS should consider revisions such as changing the LVPA to a tiered adjustment.
Open – Partially Addressed

CMS concurred with this recommendation and has taken some steps to implement it. For example, CMS obtained input on the LVPA from sources such as Technical Expert Panels that the agency convened as well as responses to a Request for Information as part of the CY 2022 rulemaking process. CMS stated that the agency planned to use this input to inform potential proposals for refining the LVPA through the rulemaking process. CMS also stated that, as of February 2024, the agency's plan was to issue a proposed and final rule in CY 2024 to revise the LVPA. Once CMS has issued the final rule to revise

Managing for Results: Data-Driven Performance Reviews Show Promise But Agencies Should Explore How to Involve Other Relevant Agencies

GAO-13-228
J. Christopher Mihm
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Recommendation Status
Office of Management and Budget To better leverage agency quarterly performance reviews as a mechanism to manage performance toward agency priority and other agency-level performance goals, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should work with the Performance Improvement Council and other relevant groups to identify and share promising practices to help agencies extend their quarterly performance reviews to include, as relevant, representatives from outside organizations that contribute to achieving their agency performance goals.
Open

As of July 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Performance Improvement Council (PIC) have taken little action to address this recommendation. In August 2017, PIC staff told us that they were working to identify examples where agencies had included representatives from outside organizations in their performance reviews, and would then disseminate promising practices based on those experiences. However, according to information shared by OMB and PIC staff in March 2019, they had not taken any additional action, nor had they identified or shared any such practices. OMB staff

Export Promotion: Small Business Administration Needs to Improve Collaboration to Implement Its Expanded Role

GAO-13-217
Loren Yager
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Small Business Administration
Priority Rec.
To more effectively implement SBA's expansion of OIT field staff as required by the SBJA, the Administrator of the SBA should update SBA's plan for additional OIT staff to include funding sources and time frames, as well as possible efficiencies from clearly defining roles and responsibilities and leveraging other entities' export assistance resources.
Open

SBA agreed with this recommendation. In December 2023, SBA officials said the Office of International Trade had filled 23 of the 30 Export Finance Manager positions required under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. According to SBA officials, its current staffing level adequately fills the export finance needs of small businesses due to SBA's use of technology to provide training and counseling to more exporters in the past 2 years and consolidation of the industry. In March 2024 SBA submitted a legislative proposal to Congress to reduce the Act's requirement of 30 export finance specialists

VA Health Care: Reliability of Reported Outpatient Medical Appointment Wait Times and Scheduling Oversight Need Improvement

GAO-13-130
Debra A. Draper
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs
Priority Rec.
To ensure reliable measurement of veterans' wait times for medical appointments, the Secretary of VA should direct the Under Secretary for Health to take actions to improve the reliability of wait time measures either by clarifying the scheduling policy to better define the desired date, or by identifying clearer wait time measures that are not subject to interpretation and prone to scheduler error.
Open – Partially Addressed

VA agreed with our recommendation. Since 2013, VA has taken actions intended to address the reliability of appointment wait times through improvements in appointment scheduling, including issuing a revised scheduling policy, providing and documenting scheduler training, and improving oversight through scheduler audits. While the revised scheduling policy and subsequent guidance changed the terminology of wait-time measures, they did not substantively clarify or define the wait time measurement. In February 2024, VA provided evidence to GAO that the department established "Third Next Available
Note: the list of open recommendations for the last report may continue on the next page.

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