Annual Report on Government Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication Identifies Billions of Dollars in Potential Savings

Washington, D.C. (June 14, 2023) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today issued its 13^th annual report identifying new opportunities to save taxpayers billions of dollars by reducing fragmentation, overlap, and duplication across the federal government. This year’s report outlines 100 new corrective measures in 35 topic areas that Congress and federal agencies could take to save money and improve efficiency and effectiveness in government programs and activities. 

“This annual report points Congress and federal agencies to new areas of overlap, fragmentation and duplication, costs savings opportunities, and revenue enhancements.” said Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO. “By addressing this year’s targeted list, as well as open matters and recommendations from our past work, the federal government could potentially save tens of billions of dollars, significantly enhance revenues, and make government programs work better for the American people.”

Notable suggestions in the latest report include the following: 

• Congress should reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority by 2027 to ensure the continuity of the public-safety broadband network and collection of potential revenues of billions of dollars over 15 years.
• The Office of Personnel Management could save hundreds of millions of dollars or more annually by implementing a monitoring mechanism to identify and remove ineligible family members from the Federal Employees Health Benefits program.
• The Internal Revenue Service should document processes used to address certain compliance risks for COVID-19 employer tax credits and implement additional compliance activities to potentially recapture tens of millions of dollars or more of ineligible claims.
• The General Services Administration could generate or save millions of dollars in property sales or space reduction opportunities by leveraging lessons learned to help with decision-making processes.
• The Small Business Administration could recover millions of dollars by taking additional steps to identify and respond to potentially fraudulent or ineligible Restaurant Revitalization Fund recipients.
• Responsible federal offices need a national broadband internet access strategy and should address any key statutory limitations to better manage fragmented efforts across 15 federal agencies and more than 130 programs, and to address overlap and potential duplication.
• Congress and federal agencies could better manage fragmentation across the more than 30 federal entities involved in disaster recovery to improve service delivery to disaster survivors and improve the effectiveness of recovery efforts.

While significant work still remains, Congress and executive branch agencies have made strides in addressing many of the 1,885 matters and recommendations that GAO identified from 2011 to 2023 to reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve the effectiveness of agency operations.  These efforts have yielded approximately $600 billion in financial benefits, an increase of $46.8 billion from GAO’s last report on this topic.

The status of GAO’s proposed changes can be followed on its Duplication and Cost Savings page on the GAO website.

For more information, contact Chuck Young, Managing Director of GAO Public Affairs at youngc1@gao.gov or 202-512-4800.

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The Government Accountability Office, known as the investigative arm of Congress, is an independent, nonpartisan agency that exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO provides Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonideological, fair, and balanced. GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.