Priority Open Recommendations: General Services Administration
Fast Facts
Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help the federal government save money, address issues on our High Risk List, and significantly improve government operations.
This letter to the General Services Administration outlines 6 open recommendations that it should prioritize. For example, GSA could save millions of dollars by helping ensure that federal agencies make use of excess personal property—things like office chairs and cars that other agencies no longer need.
GSA implemented 3 recommendations we identified as a priority last year.
We regularly update priority recommendations here.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In June 2022, GAO identified 5 priority recommendations for the General Services Administration (GSA). Since then, GSA has implemented 3 of those recommendations by (1) assessing its prospectus process for leases and capital projects, (2) communicating the results of the assessment to GSA's authorizing committees, and (3) completing a needs assessment, gap analysis, and analysis of alternatives for leasing and construction alternatives to inform the Department of Homeland Security's National Capital Region Real Property Strategy.
In April 2023, GAO identified 4 additional priority recommendations for GSA, bringing the total number to 6. These recommendations fall into 3 categories:
- federal real property management,
- federal personal property management, and
- information privacy.
GSA's continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
Why GAO Did This Study
Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional and/or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or ensure that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent, among other benefits. Since 2015 GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations.
For more information, contact David Trimble at (202) 512-2834 or trimbled@gao.gov.