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 58358 Reports
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K-12 Education: State and Selected Teachers' Use of Kindergarten Readiness Information
About 3.3 million children were enrolled in kindergarten in 2024. But do states know how ready they were? Children have varying degrees of the social, emotional, language, motor, and other skills that they need to be successful in kindergarten. 27 states required their school districts to formally assess children's "kindergarten readiness" for the 2023-2024 school year. Kindergarten teachers told us that these assessments can help...
NASA Artemis Missions: Exploration Ground Systems Program Could Strengthen Schedule Decisions
NASA's Artemis missions plan to return astronauts to the moon. The Exploration Ground Systems program develops and operates everything needed to integrate and launch rockets and spacecraft for the missions. Starting with the 2028 Artemis IV mission, the Mobile Launcher 2 will transport and launch key systems. But the contractor must finish building the launcher first. Then, NASA must test it while completing a large...
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Identity Verification: GSA Needs to Address NIST Guidance, Technical Issues, and Lessons Learned
The public increasingly relies on the internet to access government services and benefits. The General Services Administration launched Login.gov to give federal agencies a secure, reliable way to verify users' identities. Agencies using Login.gov said it offers many benefits, such as improved user experiences and reduced costs. But technical issues aren't being resolved in a timely way—potentially delaying further adoption throughout the government. Also, GSA...
Coast Guard: Information on Medical Facilities
The Coast Guard provides health care services, such as physicals and immunizations, to its 47,000 personnel. This Q&A report provides information on its medical facilities. As of July 2024, the Coast Guard had 34 clinics 9 satellite clinics 65 ashore sickbays 57 afloat sickbays It has a costly backlog of infrastructure projects, which includes medical facilities on land. It reported that 22 of its 26...
Army Watercraft: Actions Needed to Optimize Small but Critical Fleet
The U.S. Army's watercraft fleet is designed to carry supplies, vehicles, and people in deep ocean and shallow coastal waters, as well as provide access by water to remote, undeveloped areas. Demand for Army watercraft is increasing, especially in the Indo-Pacific. However, the fleet has shrunk by about half since 2018. Moreover, the Army has struggled to maintain its watercraft and less than 40% of...
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Federal Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Recruitment and Retention in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories
The federal government has struggled to hire and retain employees with the skills it needs in Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. Territories. Agencies we interviewed gave several reasons why, including: Higher cost of living, such as higher grocery and housing costs Lack of quality services—such as health care and childcare Difficulties with the federal hiring process and incentives, like paying for relocation We made 12...
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Social Security Administration: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Success of Electronic Verification Service
Synthetic identity fraud—combining made-up and real information to fake an identity—is a growing concern for financial institutions, like banks, especially as their systems go digital. In response, the Social Security Administration spent $62 million on a new service to help banks verify Social Security numbers. A 2018 law required SSA to recover the cost of rolling out the service from its users. However, low participation...
DOD Financial Management: Action Needed to Enhance Workforce Planning
The Department of Defense continues to work toward its goal of improving its financial management. To help, DOD can use workforce planning strategies to determine its financial management staffing needs, and fill any gaps it finds. Although DOD has some information on its federal financial management workforce, it doesn't know how many contractors it has, or what they do. This makes it harder to identify...
Federal Student Loans: How Education Has Communicated with Borrowers About Resuming Payments
Federal student loan payments were paused for more than 3 years due to COVID-19. Payments resumed in October 2023. This Q&A report looks at how the Department of Education communicated with borrowers about resuming their payments. Before payments resumed, Education notified borrowers about the upcoming change via email, text message, social media, and its website. It also sent information to borrowers about temporary relief options...
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Homelessness: Actions to Help Better Address Older Adults' Housing and Health Needs
An estimated 138,000 older adults experienced homelessness on a single night in 2023. We interviewed service providers and other stakeholders, and older adults (aged 55 and up) who had experienced homelessness. Providers said finding affordable housing with accessibility features such as grab bars was particularly difficult. Similarly, older adults may need hard-to-find services such as home health care once in housing. More clearly defined goals...
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Workplace Safety and Health: OSHA Should Take Steps to Better Identify and Address Ergonomic Hazards at Warehouses and Delivery Companies
E-commerce retail sales depend on workers in warehouses to pack and ship items and on workers who take items from distribution centers to people's doors. As these sales have risen, so has the number of injuries among these workers. Federal data shows that the most common injuries are from overexertion—e.g., working while fatigued or moving unsafely while lifting or bending. The Occupational Safety and Health...
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Conflict Minerals: Peace and Security in Democratic Republic of the Congo Have Not Improved with SEC Disclosure Rule
The trade of gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten helps finance violent conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To reduce revenue to armed groups profiting from this trade, Congress directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies using these conflict minerals to disclose their origins. SEC's rule requiring the disclosures hasn't reduced violence. Armed groups continue to fight for...
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Noncitizens in the U.S.: Public Information on Federal Incarcerations
This Q&A report provides publicly available information on incarcerations of noncitizens in the U.S. while we continue ongoing work on related topics. For example: Federal agencies don't collect citizenship information for all people in state and local facilities, where about 90% of incarcerated people are held The number of noncitizens incarcerated by the Bureau of Prisons at the end of 2022 was 33% less than...
Preventing a Dirty Bomb: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Has Not Taken Steps to Address Certain Radiological Security Risks
In terrorists' hands, even small amounts of radioactive material could be used to make a dirty bomb. Over the past decade, we've made 18 recommendations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would strengthen its security requirements for these materials. But more than half of those recommendations haven't been implemented. We now ask that Congress consider directing NRC to strengthen its requirements. This would include accounting...
Health Care Capsule: Treatment for Drug Misuse
U.S. drug overdose deaths have increased dramatically in recent years. Many deaths are from the use of illegal drugs or misuse of prescription drugs. This Health Care Capsule summarizes our work on drug misuse treatment in the U.S. We've found several challenges to getting treatment and identified ways to help, including: Addressing health care workforce shortages and increasing treatment availability Increasing access for vulnerable populations...
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Health Care Transparency: CMS Needs More Information on Hospital Pricing Data Completeness and Accuracy
Knowing what hospitals charge for services, like knee surgeries, could help promote competition and lower prices. In 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started requiring hospitals to put prices online. In 2024, the agency updated requirements to make price data easier to access and compare across hospitals. If hospitals don't report all required data, the agency follows up to get it. But health...
Pregnant Women in State Prisons and Local Jails: Federal Assistance to Support Their Care
The U.S. incarcerates women at the world's highest rate. Women make up 15% of the local jail population and 8-9% of the state prison population. We reviewed maternal health care in the facilities that house women. At the time of incarceration, 4% to 5% of women reported being pregnant. Comprehensive data on these women—including their race or ethnicity—doesn't exist, although the Department of Justice is...
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Digital Experience: Agency Compliance with Statutory Requirements
Public-facing federal websites should be user-friendly. To achieve this, the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act requires federal agencies to ensure their websites meet 8 modernization requirements. For example, websites should be accessible, mobile-friendly, and searchable. How did agencies do in 2023? We looked at 24 large agencies that provide high-impact services through their websites. About a third of them reported making progress on all...
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Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Broadly Solicit Ideas, but Clearer Guidance Could Improve DOD Efforts
Federal agencies can help fund small businesses' technology research and development. This report—the second in a series—looks at how often agencies award funds under "open topics." Awarding funds this way allows businesses to define problems and pitch innovative solutions within broad topic areas rather than soliciting only solutions to predefined problems. This can attract more diverse applicants and promote competition. We also looked DOD's use...
Transition to Civilian Life: Additional Data Analysis and Reporting Would Improve Special Operations Forces Experiences [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 30, 2024]
U.S. Special Operations Forces are being refocused to do different kinds of missions than they have in the past few decades. These service members now must decide to embrace this change in focus or leave the military. We examined Defense Department programs that help with the transition to civilian life and more. Fewer than half of Special Operations service members started the mandatory transition program...