2018 ANNUAL 

REPORT:

Additional 

Opportunities to 

Reduce 

Fragmentation, 

Overlap, and 

Duplication and 

Achieve Other 

Financial Benefits

Report to Congressional Addressees

April 2018

GAO-18-371SP

United States Government Accountability Office
Page 1 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

April 26, 2018

CongressionalAddressees

The federal government faces an unsustainable long-term fiscal path 

based on an imbalance between federal revenue and spending, primarily 

driven by health care spending and net interest on the debt.1 Addressing 

this imbalance will require long-term changes to both spending and 

revenue and difficult fiscal policy decisions. Significant action to mitigate 

this imbalance must be taken soon to minimize the disruption to 

individuals and the economy. 

Congress and executive branch agencies have opportunities to contribute 

toward fiscal sustainability and act as stewards of federal resources. 

These include taking actions to reduce, eliminate, or better manage 

fragmentation, overlap, or duplication among federal agencies and 

programs; achieve cost savings; or enhance revenues. To call attention to 

these opportunities, Congress included a provision in statute for us to 

identify and report to Congress on federal programs, agencies, offices, 

and initiatives—either within departments or government-wide—that have 

duplicative goals or activities.2 As part of this work, we also identify 

additional opportunities to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness 

that result in cost savings or enhanced revenue collection.

In our first seven annual reports issued from 2011 to 2017, we presented 

724 actions in 278 areas for Congress or executive branch agencies to 

reduce, eliminate, or better manage fragmentation, overlap, or 

duplication; achieve cost savings; or enhance revenue.3 To date,

Congress and executive branch agencies have partially or fully addressed 

551 (76 percent) of the actions we identified from 2011 to 2017, resulting

 1

GAO, Financial Audit: Fiscal Years 2017 and 2016 Consolidated Financial Statements of 

the U.S. Government, GAO-18-316R (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 15, 2018), The Nation’s 

Fiscal Health: Action Is Needed to Address the Federal Government’s Fiscal Future, 

GAO-17-237SP (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17, 2017). GAO’s analysis of the federal fiscal 

outlook can be found at http://www.gao.gov/fiscal_outlook/federal_fiscal_outlook/overview. 

2

Pub. L. No. 111-139, § 21, 124 Stat. 8,29 (2010), codified at 31 U.S.C. § 712 note. 

3

See GAO’s Duplication and Cost Savings webpage for links to the 2011 to 2017 annual 

reports: http://www.gao.gov/duplication/overview.

Letter
Page 2 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

in about $178 billion in financial benefits. We estimate that tens of billions 

more dollars could be saved by fully implementing our open actions.4

Further, our work could help the Congress identify duplicative, 

overlapping, or fragmented programs as it considers the administration’s 

efforts to reorganize and reform the federal government.5 Figure 1 

outlines the definitions we use for fragmentation, overlap, and duplication 

for this work. 

 4

In calculating our total estimated realized and potential financial benefits, we relied on 

individual estimates from a variety of sources, which considered different time periods and 

utilized different data sources, assumptions, and methodologies. Realized benefits have 

been rounded down to the nearest $1 billion. Estimated potential benefits are subject to 

increased uncertainty, depending on whether, how, and when they are addressed, and 

are presented using a notional statement of magnitude. These totals represent a rough 

estimate of financial benefits.

5

White House, Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch, E.O. 13781 

(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 13, 2017) and Office of Management and Budget, 

Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government and Reducing the Federal 

Civilian Workforce, M-17-22 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 12, 2017). Executive branch 

agencies have been directed to assess which activities can be restructured, streamlined, 

or merged to, among other objectives, reduce duplication of activities, eliminate redundant 

levels of management or administrative support, and improve coordination and information 

sharing across existing silos. The administration’s initial reform plan included proposals 

such as using shared services by leveraging the government’s economies of scale, and 

consolidating or realigning regional offices and personnel. The President’s Management 

Agenda was also released in March 2018, see 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/management/pma/.
Page 3 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Figure 1: Definitions of Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication
Page 4 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This report is our eighth in the series and it identifies 23 new areas where 

a broad range of federal agencies may be able to achieve greater 

efficiency or effectiveness.

For each area, we suggest actions that Congress or executive branch 

agencies could take to reduce, eliminate, or better manage fragmentation, 

overlap, or duplication, or achieve other financial benefits. In addition to 

identifying new areas, we monitor the progress Congress and executive 

branch agencies have made in addressing actions we previously 

identified (see sidebar). 

With the issuance of this report, we are concurrently releasing the latest 

updates to our Action Tracker. Our tracker includes a downloadable 

spreadsheet (available in XLSX or CSV formats) that users can sort and 

filter based on their specific needs or interests. For example, areas and 

actions can be sorted by the year identified, mission area name, 

implementation status, and implementing entities (Congress or specific 

agencies). 

This report is based upon work we previously conducted in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards or our quality 

assurance framework. See appendix I for more information on our scope 

and methodology for this report.

GAO’s online Action Tracker

GAO’s Action Tracker, a publicly accessible 

website, allows Congress, executive branch 

agencies, and the public to track the 

government’s progress in addressing the 

issues we have identified. GAO updates the 

Action Tracker twice a year, in the spring and 

fall.

Click here to access GAO’s online Action

Tracker and downloadable spreadsheet

(available in XLSX or CSV formats).

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP
Page 5 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This report presents 68 new actions that Congress or executive branch 

agencies could take across 23 areas.6 Over 25 of these actions in 13 

areas concern fragmentation, overlap, or duplication in government 

missions and functions (see table 1).7 Appendix II provides more detailed 

information about these new areas. 

Table 1: New Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication Areas Identified in This Report

Mission Area Page

Agriculture 1. Imported Seafood Oversight: Improved coordination between the Food and Drug 

Administration and the Food Safety and Inspection Service on the oversight of imported seafood 

would help the agencies better manage fragmentation and more consistently protect consumers 

from unsafe drug residues.

37

Defense 2. Defense Distribution Centers: By minimizing unnecessary overlap and duplication and more 

efficiently using its U.S. distribution centers to store and process goods for troop support, such

as clothing and weapon systems repair parts, the Department of Defense could potentially save 

approximately $527 million over 5 years.

39

3. GPS Modernization: To reduce the risk of unnecessary duplication, the Department of Defense

should assign a single organization responsibility for ensuring that common solutions for Global 

Positioning System receiver card modernization efforts are collected and shared among 

hundreds of programs. Receiver card modernization for a small portion of weapon systems is 

estimated to cost $2.5 billion through fiscal year 2021.

41

General 

government

4. Federal Use of Identity Theft Services: The Office of Management and Budget should explore 

options to address the risk that federal agencies may offer duplicative identity theft services in 

response to data breaches, potentially saving millions of dollars annually in unnecessary 

expenditures.

43

 6

Of the 68 new actions, 7 were added to six existing areas (see appendix IV), which are 

not a part of the 23 new areas we identified this year. The 68 also include one action we 

added to the Action Tracker that was inadvertently not included in the 2017 report to the 

Agencies' Use of Strategic Sourcing area (see 2013, Area 23). These are in addition to the 

new areas listed in tables 1 and 2.

7

The 68 new actions do not include 6 actions in four areas that agencies addressed 

before this report was issued. Specifically, the Department of State addressed three 

actions related to Iraqi and Syrian Cultural Property Protection (see 2018, Area 24), the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) addressed one action related to DOT Operational 

Improvements (see 2018, Area 25), the Department of Veterans Affairs addressed one 

action related to VA Human Capital Challenges (see 2018, Area 6), and the U.S. Agency 

for International Development addressed one action related to Combating Wildlife 

Trafficking (see 2018, Area 11). As such, we have added these actions to the Action 

Tracker with a status of “addressed.”

New Opportunities 

Exist to Improve 

Efficiency and 

Effectiveness across 

the Federal 

Government
Page 6 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission Area Page

Health 5. Graduate Medical Education Funding: The Department of Health and Human Services should 

coordinate with federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, to improve the 

effectiveness and oversight of fragmented federal funding for physician graduate medical 

education, which cost the federal government $14.5 billion in 2015.

45

6. VA Human Capital Challenges: The Veterans Health Administration should strengthen its 

human resources internal control practices and its employee performance management 

processes to address fragmentation across the agency and improve its ability to serve veterans.

47

Homeland 

security/law 

enforcement

7. Coast Guard Boat Stations: The Coast Guard should close its boat stations that provide 

unnecessarily duplicative search and rescue coverage to improve operations and potentially 

save millions of dollars.

49

8. National Institute of Standards and Technology Security Program Management: By 

addressing fragmentation in their physical security management structure, the Department of 

Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology could improve their physical 

security program.

51

Income security 9. Reviews of SSA Disability Appeals: The Social Security Administration should evaluate its 

quality assurance reviews of decisions on appealed disability claims, which cost at least $11 

million in fiscal year 2016, to reduce or better manage overlap between the types of reviews.

53

10. Supplemental Security Income: To better manage fragmentation in service delivery, the Social 

Security Administration should explore options for better connecting transition-age youth 

receiving Supplemental Security Income to vocational rehabilitation services.

55

International 

affairs

11. Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Federal agencies that combat wildlife trafficking should clarify 

roles and responsibilities in Southeast Asia to better manage fragmentation and have more 

reasonable assurance that they can effectively marshal the contributions of all agencies.

57

Science and the 

environment

12. High-Containment Laboratories: The Federal Select Agent Program needs to better 

coordinate workforce planning across its two agencies to help address fragmentation in 

oversight of high-containment laboratories.

59

Training, 

employment, 

and education

13. STEM Education Programs: Meeting requirements to assess the 163 federal science, 

technology, engineering, and mathematics education programs could create opportunities to 

better manage fragmentation and overlap and enhance the effectiveness of the portfolio. 

61

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

In addition, we present over 30 new opportunities for Congress or 

executive branch agencies to reduce the cost of government operations 

or enhance revenue collections for the U.S. Treasury across 10 areas of 

government (see table 2). See appendix III for more detailed information 

about these new areas.
Page 7 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 2: New Cost Savings and Revenue Enhancement Opportunities Identified in This Report

Mission Area Page

Defense 14. Foreign Currency Fluctuation: The Department of Defense needs to more efficiently and 

effectively manage foreign currency funds to potentially save millions of dollars. 

65

15. Supply Operations at Military Depots: The Department of Defense could improve the efficiency 

and effectiveness of supply operations at Army and Marine Corps depots and Navy shipyards 

and save tens of millions of dollars.

67

Economic 

development

16. Fiscal Management of the Universal Service Fund: By addressing weaknesses in the 

management and oversight of the Universal Service Fund, the Federal Communications 

Commission could eliminate at least $1 million annually in fees paid to a private bank to 

manage investments.

69

Energy 17. DOE’s Treatment of Hanford’s Low-Activity Waste: The Department of Energy may be able to 

reduce certain risks and save tens of billions of dollars by adopting alternative approaches to 

treat a portion of its low-activity radioactive waste.

71

General 

government 

18. Employment Taxes: Analyzing and using results from the Internal Revenue Service’s National 

Research Program employment tax study could help the agency identify and pursue millions of 

dollars annually in additional revenue owed.

73

19. Tax Fraud and Noncompliance: The Internal Revenue Service should fully assess the benefits 

and costs of using its existing authority to hold additional taxpayer refunds as well as extending 

the date for releasing those refunds until it can verify wage information on most returns later in 

the filing season, which could protect millions of dollars annually.

75

Health 20. Premium Tax Credit Improper Payments: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and 

the Internal Revenue Service could save money by strengthening controls over the Premium Tax 

Credit for health insurance, which cost about $35 billion for fiscal year 2017.

77

21. VA Medical Supplies Procurement: The Department of Veterans Affairs could potentially save 

tens of millions of dollars when acquiring medical and surgical supplies by better adhering to 

supply chain practices of leading hospitals.

79

Homeland 

security/law 

enforcement

22. Bureau of Prisons Health Care Costs: The Federal Bureau of Prisons could improve the 

oversight and management of its health care costs to more efficiently and effectively acquire 

health care goods and services and potentially save millions of dollars annually.

81

Income security 23. Railroad Retirement Board Continuing Disability Reviews: The Railroad Retirement Board 

could reduce overpayments by millions of dollars and better target resources by using more 

timely earnings data and reallocating resources used for high-risk continuing disability reviews to 

more effective efforts.

83

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

In addition to these new areas, we identified seven new actions that relate 

to six existing areas presented in our 2011 to 2017 annual reports (see 

table 3). See appendix IV for more detailed information about these new 

actions.
Page 8 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 3: New Actions Added to Existing Areas in 2018

Mission New action (area name links to Action Tracker)

Year introduced

(year links to report) Page

Agriculture Crop Insurance: In July 2017, GAO identified a new action that Congress 

can take to reduce the cost of delivering the federal crop insurance program 

by hundreds of millions of dollars annually. 

2013 86

Defense Defense Virtual Training: In September 2017, GAO identified a new action 

to help the Marine Corps better manage fragmentation in its virtual training 

program. 

2016 86

Navy Shipbuilding: In March 2017, GAO identified a new action to help the 

Navy improve its use of incentives in shipbuilding. 

2017 87

General 

government

Federal Vehicles: In April 2017, GAO identified two new actions to help the 

federal government better manage its fleet of retained vehicles. 

2016 87

Homeland 

security/law 

enforcement

Security of Federal Facilities: In February 2017, GAO identified a new 

action to better manage fragmentation among federal agencies to address 

risks to federal courthouse security. 

2016 88

Information 

technology

Information Technology Investment Portfolio Management: In September 

2016, GAO identified a new action to improve federal agencies’ efforts to 

complete software application inventories, which could further contribute to 

the billions of dollars of potential savings previously identified. 

2014 88

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

We monitor the progress that Congress and executive branch agencies 

have made in addressing the issues we identified in each of our last 

seven annual reports. As shown in table 4, Congress and executive 

branch agencies have made consistent progress in addressing many of 

the actions we identified from 2011 to 2017. As of March 2018, 376 (52 

percent) of the actions we identified from 2011 to 2017 have been fully

addressed. See our online Action Tracker for the status of all actions.

Congress and 

Executive Branch 

Agencies Continue to 

Address Actions That 

Span the Federal 

Government
Page 9 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 4: Status of 2011 to 2017 Actions Directed to Congress and the Executive Branch, as of March 2018

Status

Number of

congressional actions

(percentage)a

Number of

executive branch actions

(percentage)b Total(percentage)

Addressed 30

(31%)

346

(55%)

376

(52%)

Partially addressed 11

(11%)

164

(26%)

175

(24%)

Not addressed 44

(45%)

78

(12%)

122

(17%)

Otherc 12

(12%)

39

(6%)

51

(7%)

Total

97

(100%)

627

(100%)

724

(100%)

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: Due to rounding, the actual total percentages do not add up to exactly 100 percent.

a

In assessing actions suggested for Congress, GAO applied the following criteria: “addressed” means 

relevant legislation has been enacted and addresses all aspects of the action needed; “partially 

addressed” means a relevant bill has passed a committee, the House of Representatives, or the Senate

during the current congressional session, or relevant legislation has been enacted but only addressed

part of the action needed; and “not addressed” means a bill may have been introduced but did not pass

out of a committee, or no relevant legislation has been introduced. At the beginning of a new

congressional session, GAO reapplies the criteria. As a result, the status of an action may move from 

partially addressed to not addressed if relevant legislation is not reintroduced from the prior 

congressional session.

b

In assessing actions suggested for the executive branch, GAO applied the following criteria: 

“addressed” means implementation of the action needed has been completed; “partially addressed” 

means the action needed is in development, or started but not yet completed; and “not addressed” 

means the administration, the agencies, or both have made minimal or no progress toward

implementing the action needed.

c

Of the 51 “other” actions, 34 are categorized as “consolidated or other” and 17 as “closed-not 

addressed.” Actions categorized as “consolidated or other” and “closed-not addressed” are no longer 

assessed. In most cases, “consolidated or other” actions were replaced or subsumed by new actions 

based on additional audit work or other relevant information. Actions are generally “closed-not 

addressed” when the action is no longer relevant due to changing circumstances. 
Page 10 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The progress Congress and executive branch agencies have made in 

addressing our open actions has resulted in $178 billion in financial 

benefits, including roughly $125 billion in financial benefits from 2010 

through 2017, with at least an additional $53 billion in estimated benefits 

projected to accrue in 2018 or later.8 Table 5 highlights examples of these 

results. 

Table 5: Examples of Addressed or Partially Addressed Actions with Associated Cost Savings and Revenue Enhancements 

Area name (links to Action 

Tracker) Actions taken Financial benefit

Farm Program Payments 

(2011/Area 35)

Congress passed and the President signed the 

Agricultural Act of 2014, which eliminated direct 

payments to farmers.a

Savings of approximately $44.5 billion from 

fiscal year 2015 through fiscal year 2023, of 

which $14.8 billion has accrued and $29.7 

billion is expected to accrue in fiscal year 

2018 or later, according to the Congressional 

Budget Office (CBO). 

Weapon Systems Acquisition 

Programs (2011/Area 38)

Congress passed and the President signed the 

Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 

2009, which implemented a number of GAO’s 

recommendations for how the Department of 

Defense (DOD) develops and acquires weapon 

systems. GAO highlighted the need for 

additional action in this area in its 2011 report. 

Since then, DOD has followed more best 

practices for these acquisitions.

b

Savings of approximately $36 billion from 

2011 through 2015, according to GAO 

analysis.

Domestic Ethanol Production 

(2011/Area 13)

Congress allowed the Volumetric Ethanol Excise 

Tax Credit to expire at the end of 2011, which 

eliminated duplicative federal efforts directed at 

increasing domestic ethanol production and 

reduced revenue losses.

c

Reduced revenue losses by $29 billion in 

fiscal years 2012 through 2016, according to 

GAO analysis.

Passenger Aviation Security Fees 

(2012/Area 48)

Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 

2013 which modified the passenger security fee 

from its current per enplanement structure 

($2.50 per enplanement with a maximum oneway-trip fee of $5.00) to a structure that 

increases the passenger security fee to a flat 

$5.60 per one-way-trip.

d

Increased revenue of about $12.9 billion in 

fee collections over a 10-year period 

beginning in fiscal year 2014 and continuing 

through fiscal year 2023.

Tax Policies and Enforcement 

(2015/Area 17)

Congress amended the audit procedures 

applicable to certain large partnerships to 

require that they pay audit adjustments at the 

partnership level.

e

Increase revenue by $9.3 billion from fiscal 

years 2019 to 2025, according to the Joint 

Committee on Taxation.

 8

In calculating these totals, we relied on individual estimates from a variety of sources, 

which considered different periods and utilized different data sources, assumptions, and 

methodologies. These totals represent a rough estimate of financial benefits and have 

been rounded down to the nearest $1 billion.

Billions in Financial 

Benefits Due to Actions 

Taken by Congress and 

Executive Branch 

Agencies
Page 11 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Area name (links to Action 

Tracker) Actions taken Financial benefit

Real Estate-Owned Properties 

(2014/Area 18)

The Department of Housing and Urban 

Development made improvements to increase 

the recoveries from disposing of properties it 

receives when loans default, such as by selling 

these loans and increasing property inspections 

and oversight of contractors disposing of these 

properties.

Savings of up to $4.7 billion from July 2013 

through June 2017, according to GAO 

analysis. 

Combat Uniforms (2013/Area 2) The Army chose not to introduce a new family of 

camouflage uniforms into its inventory.

Cost avoidance of about $4.2 billion over 5 

years, of which $3.4 billion has accrued since 

fiscal year 2014 and $0.8 billion is expected 

to accrue in fiscal year 2018, according to 

agency estimates.

Federal Data Centers (2011/Area 

15)

The 24 federal agencies participating in the 

Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) data 

center consolidation and optimization efforts 

have taken steps to consolidate over 5,800 data 

centers as of August 2017.

Cost savings and avoidances of $3.9 billion

from fiscal years 2011 through 2018, based 

on GAO analysis of agency reported data. 

This includes about $345.4 million expected 

to accrue in fiscal year 2018, according to 

agencies’ plans.

Agencies’ Use of Strategic 

Sourcing (2013/Area 23)

The Department of Veterans Affairs evaluated 

strategic sourcing opportunities and set goals 

and metrics such as increasing managed 

spending for information technology (IT) 

products and services.

Cost avoidance of about $3.6 billion from 

fiscal years 2013 through 2015, according to 

agency estimates.

Overseas Defense Posture 

(2012/Area 37)

United States Forces Korea conducted a series 

of consultations with the military services to 

evaluate the costs and benefits associated with 

tour normalization, and DOD decided not to 

move forward with the full tour normalization 

initiative because it was not affordable.

Savings of an estimated $3.1 billion from 

fiscal years 2012 through 2016, according to 

agency estimates.

Homeland Security Grants 

(2012/Area 17)

Congress limited preparedness grant funding 

until the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency completes a national preparedness 

assessment of capability gaps.f

Savings of $2.6 billion from fiscal years 2011 

through 2013, according to GAO analysis.

Treasury’s Foreclosure Prevention 

Efforts (2016/Area 17)

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) 

updated its analysis of estimated future 

expenditures for the Making Home Affordable 

program, reducing the estimated lifetime cost of 

the program.

Savings of $2 billion as a result of 

deobligating funds in February 2016, 

according to agency estimates.

Information Technology Investment 

Portfolio Management (2014/Area 

24)

Eight agencies completed efforts to migrate 

commodity IT areas to shared services in 

response to OMB’s 2012 guidance to review 

their portfolios and identify duplicative, lowvalue, and wasteful investments, contributing to 

savings.

Savings of about $1.8 billion from fiscal years 

2012 through 2016, according to agency 

estimates.

DOD’s Business Systems 

(2011/Area 8)

DOD canceled the Air Force’s Expeditionary 

Combat Support System because of significant 

cost and schedule overages.

Savings of about $1.6 billion from fiscal years 

2013 through 2025, according to GAO 

analysis of agency estimates. This includes 

about $985 million expected to accrue in 

fiscal year 2018 or later.
Page 12 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Area name (links to Action 

Tracker) Actions taken Financial benefit

Strategic Petroleum Reserve 

(2015/Area 15) 

The Department of Energy (DOE) completed a 

long-term strategic review of the Strategic 

Petroleum Reserve in August 2016, as 

Congress required in 2015.

DOE reported savings of $1.2 billion from 

selling crude oil from the reserve in fiscal year 

2017 and 2018, with potential for over $8.4 

billion in total sales through 2025 according 

to CBO.

Federal Payments for Hospital 

Uncompensated Care (2017/Area 

25)

The Department of Health and Human Services 

began to align Medicare Uncompensated Care 

payments with hospitals’ actual uncompensated 

care costs starting in fiscal year 2018 instead of 

basing these payments on hospitals’ Medicaid 

workload.

Financial benefits of about $752 million in 

fiscal year 2018 from better use of Medicare 

funds, according to GAO analysis. 

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

a

Pub. L. No. 113-79, § 1101, 128 Stat. 649, 658 (2014). 

b

Pub. L. No. 111-23, 123 Stat. 1704 (2009). 

c

26 U.S.C. § 6426(b)(6). 

d

Pub. L. No. 113-67, § 601(b), 127 Stat. 1165, 1187 (2013)

e

Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-74, § 1101, 129 Stat. 584, 625–638 (2015). 

f

Pub. L. No. 112-10, § 1632, 125 Stat. 38, 143 (2011); Pub. L. No. 112-74, 125 Stat. 786, 960-62 

(2011); Pub. L. No. 113-6, 127 Stat. 198, 358-60 (2013); Pub. L. No. 113-76, 118 Stat. 5, 261-62 

(2014).

While not all actions result in financial benefits to taxpayers, all of our 

suggested actions, when implemented, can result in other benefits—for 

instance, they make government more efficient or eliminate, reduce, or 

improve management of fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative 

programs. For example, such benefits can be seen in the results of our 

work on the government’s acquisition of space programs. For over two 

decades, we and others have reported on problems caused by 

fragmented leadership and a lack of a single authority in oversight of 

these multibillion dollar programs.

In 2012, we made a recommendation aimed at strengthening leadership 

and authority of space systems acquisitions. In response, in 2017 the 

President revived the National Space Council to provide a coordinated 

process for developing and monitoring the implementation of national 

space policy and strategy. Separately, in the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, Congress made changes to

certain DOD space leadership positions and required the department to

conduct a review and identify a recommended organizational and 

management structure for its national security space components, and 

submit related reports. The act also required DOD to contract with a 
Page 13 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

federally funded research and development center not closely affiliated 

with the Air Force to develop a plan to establish a separate military 

department responsible for DOD national security space activities.9 These 

actions could reduce fragmentation and speed decision making in the 

development of a substantial investment in space systems.

While Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress 

toward addressing the 798 total actions we have identified since 2011, 

further steps are needed to fully address the 365 actions that are partially 

addressed or not addressed.10 We estimate that tens of billions of dollars 

in additional financial benefits could be realized should Congress and 

executive branch agencies fully address open actions.11 In addition to 

producing financial benefits, these actions make government more 

efficient; improve major government programs or agencies; reduce 

mismanagement, fraud, waste, and abuse; and increase assurance that 

programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent.

Congress has used our work to identify legislative solutions to achieve 

cost savings, address emerging problems, and find efficiencies in federal 

agencies and programs. Our work has contributed to a number of key 

authorizations and appropriations. In addition, congressional oversight of 

agencies’ efforts has been critical in realizing the full benefits of our 

suggested actions addressed to the executive branch, and it will continue 

to be critical in the future.

In our 2011 to 2018 annual reports, we directed 100 actions to Congress, 

including the 3 new congressional actions we identified in 2018. Of the 

100 actions, 58 remain open (11 of which were partially addressed and 

47 were not addressed or new) as of March 2018. Table 6 highlights 

areas with significant open actions directed to Congress. Appendix V has 

a full list of all open congressional actions.

 9

Pub. L. No. 115-91, § 1601(c), (d), 131 Stat. 1283, (2017).

10The 798 total actions include the 68 new actions identified in this report and six new 

actions that were addressed before this report was issued.

11In calculating this estimate, we relied on individual estimates from a variety of sources, 

which considered different time periods and utilized different data sources, assumptions, 

and methodologies. These estimates are subject to increased uncertainty, depending on 

whether, how, and when they are addressed. This amount represents a rough estimate of 

financial benefits. 

Action on Remaining 

and New Areas Could 

Yield Significant 

Additional Benefits

Significant Open Actions 

Directed to Congress
Page 14 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 6: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to Congress 

Annual report

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 DOE’s Treatment of Hanford’s Low-Activity Waste (Area 17): Congress should consider granting the 

Department of Energy (DOE) authority to manage certain portions of Hanford’s tank waste as a waste type other 

than high-level waste, which would allow DOE to use alternative waste treatment approaches and could reduce 

certain risks and save tens of billions of dollars.

2017 Use of the Do Not Pay Working System (Area 11): The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) needs to

develop a strategy and additional guidance on the use of the Do Not Pay working system, and Congress should

consider amending the Social Security Act to explicitly allow the Social Security Administration (SSA) to share its full

death file through the system to reduce improper payments and mitigate the risks associated with potential 

duplication.

2016 Treasury's Foreclosure Prevention Efforts (Area 17): Congress could rescind and direct $4.8 billion to other 

priorities upon the Department of Treasury’s review of potential unexpended balances and deobligation of excess 

funds for the Making Home Affordable Program.

2016 Medicare Payments by Place of Service (Area 30): Medicare could save $1 to 2 billion annually if Congress 

were to equalize the rates Medicare pays for certain health care services, which often vary depending on where the

service is performed.a

2015 DOD US Family Health Plan (Area 6): To potentially save millions of dollars and eliminate duplication within the 

Department of Defense’s (DOD) health care system, Congress should terminate the statutorily required US Family

Health Plan because it offers military beneficiaries the same health care benefit offered by other DOD health care

contractors within many of the same geographic service areas.

2015 Medicare Payments to Certain Cancer Hospitals (Area 19): To achieve almost $500 million annually in program 

savings, Congress should consider modifying how Medicare pays certain cancer hospitals.

2014 Disability and Unemployment Benefits (Area 8): Congress should consider passing legislation to prevent 

individuals from collecting both full Disability Insurance benefits and Unemployment Insurance benefits that cover 

the same period, which could save almost $2.5 billion over 10 years in the Social Security Disability Insurance

program, according to OMB.

2014 Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (Area 13): Unless DOE can demonstrate

demand for new Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loans and viable applications, Congress may wish

to consider rescinding all or part of the remaining $4.3 billion in credit subsidy appropriations.

2013 Crop Insurance (Area 19): To achieve up to $1.4 billion annually in cost savings in the crop insurance program,

Congress could consider limiting the subsidy for premiums that are provided on behalf of individual farmers—as it 

limits the amount of payments to individual farmers in many farm programs—or reducing the subsidy or some 

combination of limiting and reducing these subsidies.

2013 Tobacco Taxes (Area 31): Federal revenue losses ranged from as much as $2.6 to $3.7 billion between April 2009

and February 2014 because manufacturers and consumers substituted higher-taxed smoking tobacco products with

similar lower-taxed products. To address future revenue losses, Congress should consider modifying tobacco tax 

rates to eliminate significant tax differentials between similar products.
Page 15 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Annual report

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2011 Social Security Offsets (Area 80): SSA needs data on pensions from noncovered earnings to better enforce

offsets and ensure benefit fairness, which could result in estimated savings of $2.4 to $7.9 billion over 10 years if 

enforced both retrospectively and prospectively, according to the Congressional Budget Office and SSA. Congress 

could consider giving the Internal Revenue Service the authority to collect the necessary information. Estimated

savings would be less if SSA only enforced the offsets prospectively as it would not reduce benefits already

received.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive-branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

a

In 2015, Congress took some steps to address this by excluding services furnished by off-campus 

hospital outpatient departments from this higher payment, effective January 1, 2017. However, this 

exclusion will not apply to services furnished by providers billing as hospital outpatient departments 

prior to enactment of the legislation—that is, all providers billing as hospital outpatients during GAO’s 

study—who would continue to be paid under higher rate or to services provided by on-campus 

hospital outpatient departments. Congress later added providers meeting a mid-build requirement to 

the list of providers to which the exclusion would not apply.

In our 2011 to 2018 annual reports, we directed 698 actions to executive 

branch agencies, including 65 new actions identified in 2018. Of the 698

actions, 307 remained open as of March 2018. Of these open actions, 

164 were partially addressed and 143 were not addressed or new. While 

these open actions span the government, a substantial number of them 

are directed to seven agencies that made up 83 percent—$3.7 trillion—of 

federal outlays in fiscal year 2017 and have the largest number of open 

actions (see figures 2 and 3).

Significant Open Actions 

Directed to Executive 

Branch Agencies
Page 16 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Figure 2: Fiscal Year 2017 Outlays and Number of Open Actions since 2011, by 

Agency 

Notes: Number of open actions includes actions that are partially addressed and not addressed.

a

Treasury’s percentage of fiscal year 2017 outlays includes interest payments on the national debt as 

well as costs associated with administering Bureaus including the Internal Revenue Service.

b

Other agencies include all federal agencies with fiscal year 2017 outlays not listed above.

As shown in figure 3, seven agencies have at least 25 open actions.
Page 17 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Figure 3: Number of Not Addressed and Partially Addressed Actions since 2011, by Agency 

Notes: Action status is as of March 2018. Individual actions are counted multiple times when they

are directed to more than one federal department or agency. As a result, the number of open

actions shown in this figure totals 514 instead of 307, the latter of which is the total number of open

actions directed to the executive branch as of March 2018.
Page 18 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The number of actions “partially addressed” means the action needed is in development or started but

not yet completed. The number of actions “not addressed” means the administration, the agencies, or

both have made minimal or no progress toward implementing the action needed. Actions that were

introduced in this 2018 annual report are counted as “not addressed.”

a

”Other entities” reflects open actions directed to the following federal entities: The Executive Office

of the President, National Security Council, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Office of 

National Drug Control Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Homeland Security Council, 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Reserve, U.S. Commission on International

Religious Freedom, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Railroad 

Retirement Board, the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Education and the Federal Communications Commission.

The following sections highlight examples of open actions across those 

seven major agencies. 

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 176 actions to DOD in areas that 

center on DOD’s effectiveness in providing the military forces needed to 

deter war and to protect the security of the United States. As of March 

2018, 74 of these 176 actions remained open. DOD represented about 14

percent of federal spending in fiscal year 2017, with outlays totaling about 

$635.5 billion. Our work suggests that effectively implementing these 

open actions, including those related to areas listed in table 7, could yield 

substantial financial benefits and improve DOD’s effectiveness.

Table 7: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Department of Defense 

Annual report 

(year links to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 Defense Distribution Centers (Area 2): By minimizing unnecessary overlap and duplication and more 

efficiently using its U.S. distribution centers to store and process goods for troop support, such as clothing 

and weapon systems repair parts, the Department of Defense (DOD) could potentially save approximately 

$527 million over 5 years. 

2017 DOD Commissaries (Area 16): By managing its commissaries more efficiently, DOD could position itself 

to better achieve its cost savings target of $2 billion.

2013 Agencies’ Use of Strategic Sourcing (Area 23): Selected agencies—including DOD—could better 

leverage their buying power and achieve additional savings by directing more procurement spending to 

existing strategically sourced contracts and further expanding strategic sourcing practices to their highest 

spending procurement categories. GAO originally estimates that savings of 1 percent from selected

agencies’ procurement spending alone would equate to over $4 billion. Resulting action from one of these 

agencies (the Department of Veterans Affairs) has already resulted in $3.6 billion in savings.

2012, 2015 DOD Headquarters Reductions and Workforce Requirements (Areas 34, 14): DOD could potentially 

save $9.4 billion by identifying further opportunities for consolidating or reducing the size of headquarters 

organizations to meet their assigned missions through periodic reassessments of its workforce 

requirements. 

More Efficiently Targeting 

Defense Resources
Page 19 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Annual report 

(year links to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2011 Weapon Systems Acquisition Programs (Area 38): Continuing to employ best management practices

could help DOD save money on its weapon systems acquisition programs. Given the trillion-dollar size of 

the portfolio, GAO estimates potential savings from addressing the remaining actions could be in the

billions of dollars over the next several years.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 111 actions to the Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) in areas that contribute to HHS’s 

mission to enhance the health and well-being of Americans. HHS 

provides health coverage for over 145 million Americans through three 

principal programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health 

Insurance Program—as well as the health-insurance marketplaces. HHS 

also operates other public health-related agencies such as the Food and 

Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 

the National Institutes of Health. HHS represented about 27 percent of 

the fiscal year 2017 federal budget, with outlays totaling about $1.2 

trillion. As of March 2018, 56 of HHS’s 111 actions remained open. Our 

work suggests that effectively implementing these actions, including those 

related to areas listed in table 8, could reduce costs, provide services 

more efficiently, and yield substantial financial benefits.

Table 8: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Department of Health and Human Services

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

Medicare

2015 Medicare Postpayment Claims Reviews (Area 7): To prevent inappropriate duplicative postpayment claims 

reviews by contractors, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should monitor the Recovery Audit 

Data Warehouse—the database developed in part to prevent duplicative reviews.

2012 Medicare Advantage Payments (Area 45): To help ensure appropriate payments to Medicare Advantage plans,

CMS should take steps to improve the accuracy of the adjustment made for differences in diagnostic coding 

practices between Medicare Advantage plans and traditional Medicare providers, which could result in savings of 

billions of dollars.

Medicaid

2017 Medicaid Personal Care Services Data (Area 26): CMS needs timely, complete, and consistent data on Medicaid 

personal care services so it can effectively monitor these services, which could lead to savings of tens of millions 

of dollars annually.

Improving the Efficiency of 

Health Care Programs 
Page 20 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2016 Medicaid Payments to Institutional Providers (Area 29): CMS should take steps to improve the oversight of state

Medicaid payments to institutional providers and better ensure that the federal government does not provide funds 

for excessive state payments made to certain providers, which could result in savings of hundreds of millions of

dollars annually.

2014,

2016

Demonstration Spending (Areas 21, 27): Federal spending on Medicaid demonstrations could be reduced by

billions of dollars if the Department of Health and Human Services improved the process for reviewing, approving, 

and making transparent the basis for spending limits approved for Medicaid demonstrations, including better 

ensuring that valid methods are used to demonstrate budget neutrality and implemented other actions and 

recommendations, such as establishing specific criteria for assessing whether demonstration spending furthers 

Medicaid objectives.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 91 actions to the Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS) in areas that contribute to effectively and 

efficiently providing high-quality service to taxpayers and enforcing the 

law with integrity and fairness to all. As of March 2018, 38 of these 91 

actions remained open. The funding of the federal government depends 

largely upon IRS’s ability to collect taxes legally owed. Our work suggests 

that effective implementation of our open actions, including those related 

to areas listed in table 9, could increase revenues through better 

compliance or reduce costs.

Table 9: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Internal Revenue Service

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 Employment Taxes (Area 18): Analyzing and using results from the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) National 

Research Program employment tax study could help the agency identify and pursue millions of dollars annually 

in additional revenue owed. 

2018 Tax Fraud and Noncompliance (Area 19): IRS should fully assess the benefits and costs of using its existing 

authority to hold additional taxpayer refunds as well as extending the date for releasing those refunds until it can 

verify wage information on most returns later in the filing season, which could protect millions of dollars annually.

2017 Refundable Tax Credits (Area 24): IRS could potentially realize hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings

by improving the administration of three large refundable tax credits (the Earned Income Tax Credit; the Additional

Child Tax Credit, which is sometimes combined with its nonrefundable counterpart, the Child Tax Credit; and the

American Opportunity Tax Credit).

2016 Identity Theft Refund Fraud (Area 22): IRS and Congress could potentially save billions of dollars in fraudulent 

refunds by improving the agency’s efforts to prevent refund fraud associated with identity theft.

Enhancing Federal 

Revenues
Page 21 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2014 Online Taxpayer Services (Area 17): IRS could potentially realize hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings 

and increased revenues by enhancing its online services, which would improve service to taxpayers and encourage 

greater tax-law compliance.

2013,

2015

Tax Policy and Enforcement (Areas 22, 17): By using more-rigorous analyses to allocate enforcement resources 

and using data to improve management of enforcement programs such as large partnership and correspondence 

audits, among other things, the IRS can increase revenue collections by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 79 actions to the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) in areas that contribute to the effective 

implementation of its mission. In fiscal year 2017, DHS spent about $63.6 

billion, about 1.4 percent of federal outlays. As of March 2018, 31 of the 

79 actions to DHS remained open. Fully implementing these actions, 

including those related to areas listed in table 10, could result in financial 

benefits and substantial improvements in agency operations.

Table 10: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Department of Homeland Security

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates 

have been updated since GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

Improving the Efficiency 

and Effectiveness of 

Homeland Security 

Operations

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 Coast Guard Boat Stations (Area 7): The Coast Guard should close its boat stations that provide unnecessarily 

duplicative search and rescue coverage to improve operations and potentially save millions of dollars.

2012 Border Security (Area 47): The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) future acquisitions of border 

surveillance technology could be better informed by using performance metrics to assess the contributions of 

existing surveillance technologies.

2012 Domestic Disaster Assistance (Area 51): The Federal Emergency Management Agency could reduce the costs to

the federal government related to major disasters declared by the President by updating the principal indicator on

which disaster funding decisions are based and better measuring a state’s capacity to respond without federal

assistance.

2012 Homeland Security Grants (Area 17): DHS needs better project information and coordination among four

overlapping grant programs and needs to establish a framework for assessing preparedness capabilities to identify

gaps and prioritize investments.
Page 22 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Many of the results the federal government seeks to achieve require the 

coordinated effort of more than one federal agency, level of government, 

or sector. OMB manages and coordinates many government-wide efforts. 

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 66 actions to OMB in areas to 

improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government-wide programs 

and activities. As of March 2018, 30 of the 66 actions to OMB remained 

open. Fully implementing these actions, including those related to areas 

listed in table 11, could yield significant financial benefits and substantial 

program improvements across government.

Table 11: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Office of Management and Budget

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, CBO, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates have been updated since 

GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 32 actions to the Social Security 

Administration (SSA) in areas that contribute to SSA providing financial 

assistance to eligible individuals through Social Security retirement and 

disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. As 

of March 2018, 27 of these 32 actions remained open. In fiscal year 2017, 

SSA spent about $1 trillion, roughly 22 percent of federal outlays. While 

most of SSA’s funding is used to pay Social Security retirement, 

survivors, and disability benefits from the Old-Age and Survivors 

Advancing the 

Implementation of 

Government-Wide Policies 

and Performance

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 Federal Use of Identity Theft Services (Area 4): The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should explore 

options to address the risk that federal agencies may offer duplicative identity theft services in response to data 

breaches, potentially saving millions of dollars annually in unnecessary expenditures. 

2014 Information Technology Investment Portfolio Management (Area 24): OMB and multiple agencies could help the 

federal government realize billions of dollars in savings by taking steps to better implement PortfolioStat, a process 

to help agencies manage their information technology investments.

2013 Geospatial Investments (Area 11): Better coordination among federal agencies that collect, maintain, and use

geospatial information could help reduce duplication in geospatial investments and provide the opportunity for 

potential savings of millions of dollars.

2012 Federal User Fees (Area 43): Regularly reviewing federal user fees and charges can help Congress and federal

agencies identify opportunities to address inconsistent federal funding approaches and enhance user financing, 

thereby reducing reliance on general fund appropriations.

2011 Tax Expenditures (Area 17): Periodic reviews could help identify ineffective tax expenditures and redundancies in 

related tax and spending programs, potentially reducing revenue losses by billions of dollars.

2011 Government-Wide Improper Payments (Area 46): Efforts to address the reported estimate of about $141 billion in 

government-wide improper payments for fiscal year 2017 could result in significant cost savings.

More Efficiently 

Administering Services to 

Retirees and Citizens with 

Disabilities
Page 23 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund, our work 

suggests that effective implementation of these actions, including the 

examples listed in table 12, could result in significant benefits.

Table 12: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Social Security Administration

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates 

have been updated since GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

In our 2011 to 2018 reports, we directed 54 actions to the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) in areas that contribute to VA effectively and 

efficiently achieving its mission to promote the health, welfare, and dignity 

of all veterans by ensuring that they receive medical care, benefits, and 

social support. As of March 2018, 25 of these 54 actions remained open. 

In fiscal year 2017, VA spent about $183.0 billion—about 4 percent of 

federal outlays—for veterans’ benefits and services. Our work suggests 

that effective implementation of these actions, including those related to 

areas listed in table 13, could yield cost savings and efficiencies that 

would improve the delivery of services to the nation’s veterans and their 

families. 

Annual report 

(year links to 

report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 Supplemental Security Income (Area 10): To better manage fragmentation in service delivery, the Social Security 

Administration (SSA) should explore options for better connecting transition-age youth receiving Supplemental 

Security Income to vocational rehabilitation services. 

2016 Disability Insurance Overpayments (Area 32): To help prevent the loss of billions of dollars, SSA should take

steps to prevent overpayments to beneficiaries of the Disability Insurance program and improper waivers of 

beneficiaries’ overpayment debt.

2016 Disability Reviews (Area 33): SSA may increase federal savings realized as a result of disability reviews by further 

considering factors that affect individuals’ expected lifetime benefits when prioritizing its reviews of Disability

Insurance and Supplemental Security Income cases.

2012 Social Security Benefit Coordination (Area 27): Benefit offsets for related programs help reduce the potential for 

overlapping payments but pose administrative challenges.

Improving Support and 

Services for Veterans
Page 24 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 13: Examples of Areas with Open Actions Directed to the Department of Veterans Affairs

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The estimates in this report are from a range of sources, including GAO, executive branch 

agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Some estimates 

have been updated since GAO’s 2017 report to reflect more recent analysis.

This report was prepared under the coordination of J. Christopher Mihm, 

Managing Director, Strategic Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-

6806 or mihmj@gao.gov, and Jessica Lucas-Judy, Director, Strategic 

Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-9110 or lucasjudyj@gao.gov. 

Specific questions about individual issues may be directed to the area 

contact listed at the end of each summary.

Gene L. Dodaro

Comptroller General of the United States

Annual report 

(year links

to report) Area description (area number links to Action Tracker)

2018 VA Human Capital Challenges (Area 6): The Veterans Health Administration should strengthen its human 

resources internal control practices and its employee performance management processes to address fragmentation 

across the agency and improve its ability to serve veterans. 

2018 VA Medical Supplies Procurement (Area 21): The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could potentially save

tens of millions of dollars when acquiring medical and surgical supplies by better adhering to supply chain 

practices of leading hospitals. 

2017 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Construction (Area 20): VA could better avoid cost increases

and schedule delays on its medical facility construction projects by improving management of facility construction.

2013 Information Technology Operations and Maintenance (Area 30): Strengthening oversight of federal agencies’—

including VA’s—major information technology investments in operations and maintenance provides opportunity for 

savings of billions of dollars in information technology investments across the federal government.

2012 Military and Veterans Health Care (Area 15): The Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) need

to improve integration across care coordination and case-management programs to reduce duplication and better 

assist service members, veterans, and their families.
Page 25 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication 

List of Congressional Addressees 

The Honorable Richard Shelby

Chairman 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Patrick Leahy 

Vice Chairman 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Mike Enzi 

Chairman 

The Honorable Bernie Sanders 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on the Budget 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

Chairman 

The Honorable Claire McCaskill 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs United States Senate 

The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen 

Chairman 

The Honorable Nita M. Lowey 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

The Honorable Steve Womack 

Chairman 

The Honorable John Yarmuth 

Ranking Member 

Committee on the Budget 

House of Representatives 
Page 26 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Honorable Trey Gowdy

Chairman

The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings

Ranking Member

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

House of Representatives

The Honorable Mark R. Warner

United States Senate
Abbreviations

Page 27 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

ACTC Additional Child Tax Credit

AOUSC Administrative Office of the United States Courts

APHIS Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

ATVM Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing

BOP Bureau of Prisons

CBO Congressional Budget Office

CBP U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CDE Community Development Entities

CHIP Children’s Health Insurance Program

CHIPRA Children’s Health Insurance Program 

Reauthorization Act of 2009

CMS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Commerce Department of Commerce

COMPETES 2010 The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 

2010

CTC Child Tax Credit

DHS Department of Homeland Security

DI Disability Insurance

DLA Defense Logistics Agency

DOD Department of Defense

DOE Department of Energy

DOI Department of the Interior

DOJ Department of Justice

DOL Department of Labor

DSH Disproportionate Share Hospital

Education Department of Education

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

FCC Federal Communications Commission

FDA Food and Drug Administration

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FPI Fixed-Price Incentive

FPS Federal Protective Service 

FSIS Food Safety and Inspection Service

GME Graduate Medical Education

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

GPRAMA GPRA Modernization Act of 2010

GPS Global Positioning System

GSA General Services Administration

HHS Department of Health and Human Services

HR Human Resources 

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development

ICASS International Cooperative Administrative Support 

Services

Abbreviations
Abbreviations

Page 28 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

IEP Individualized Education Program

Interior Department of the Interior

IRA Individual Retirement Account

IRS Internal Revenue Service

IT information technology

LAW low-activity waste

MHA Making Home Affordable

MSPV-NG Medical Surgical Prime Vendor-Next Generation

NDNH National Directory of New Hires

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

NMTC New Markets Tax Credit

NRCS National Resources Conservation Service

NRP National Research Program

NTIS National Technical Information Service

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OPM Office of Personnel Management

OSY Commerce’s Office of Security

PPACA Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

PCH PPS-exempt cancer hospitals

PPS prospective payment system

PROMISE Promoting Readiness of Minors in SSI

PTC Premium Tax Credit

SAR Search and Rescue 

SSA Social Security Administration

SSI Supplemental Security Income

State Department of State

STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

Treasury Department of the Treasury

UI Unemployment Insurance

USAID U.S. Agency for International Development

USDA Department of Agriculture

USEC United States Enrichment Corporation

USF Universal Service Fund

USFHP US Family Health Plan

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VHA Veterans Health Administration 

VR vocational rehabilitation
List of Appendixes

Page 29 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 14: Appendixes

Appendix Page

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 30

Appendix II: New Areas in Which GAO Has Identified Fragmentation, Overlap, or Duplication 35

Appendix III: New Areas in Which GAO Has Identified Other Cost Savings or Revenue Enhancement Opportunities 63

Appendix IV: New Actions Added to Existing Areas in 2017 85

Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by Mission 89

Appendix VI: Additional Information on Programs Identified 99

List of Appendixes
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology

Page 30 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Section 21 of Public Law 111-139, enacted in February 2010, requires us 

to conduct routine investigations to identify federal programs, agencies, 

offices, and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities within 

departments and government-wide.1 This provision also requires us to 

report annually to Congress on its findings, including the cost of such 

duplication, with recommendations for consolidation and elimination to 

reduce duplication and specific rescissions (legislation canceling 

previously enacted budget authority) that Congress may wish to consider. 

Our objectives in this report are to (1) identify potentially significant areas 

of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication and opportunities for cost 

savings and enhanced revenues that exist across the federal 

government; (2) assess to what extent executive branch agencies and 

Congress have addressed actions in our 2011 to 2017 annual reports; 

and (3) highlight examples of open actions directed to Congress or key 

executive branch agencies.

For the purposes of our analysis, we used the term “fragmentation” to 

refer to those circumstances in which more than one federal agency (or 

more than one organization within an agency) is involved in the same 

broad area of national need and there may be opportunities to improve 

how the government delivers these services. We used the term “overlap” 

when multiple agencies or programs have similar goals, engage in similar 

activities or strategies to achieve them, or target similar beneficiaries. We 

considered “duplication” to occur when two or more agencies or programs 

are engaged in the same activities or provide the same services to the 

same beneficiaries.2

This report presents 13 new areas of fragmentation, overlap, or 

duplication where greater efficiencies or effectiveness in providing 

government services may be achievable. The report also highlights 10

other new opportunities for potential cost savings or revenue 

enhancements.

To identify what actions, if any, exist to address fragmentation, overlap, 

and duplication and take advantage of opportunities for cost savings and 

enhanced revenues, we reviewed and updated our prior work and

 1

Pub. L. No. 111-139, § 21, 124 Stat. 8, 29 (2010), codified at 31 U.S.C. § 712 note.

2

We recognize that there could be instances where some degree of program 

fragmentation, overlap, or duplication may be warranted because of the nature or 

magnitude of the federal effort.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology

Page 31 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

recommendations to identify what additional actions agencies may need 

to take and Congress may wish to consider. For example, we used a 

variety of our prior work identifying leading practices that could help 

agencies address challenges associated with interagency coordination 

and collaboration and with evaluating performance and results in 

achieving efficiencies.3

To identify the potential financial and other benefits that might result from 

actions addressing fragmentation, overlap, or duplication, or taking 

advantage of other opportunities for cost savings and enhanced 

revenues, we collected and analyzed data on costs and potential savings 

to the extent they were available. Estimating the benefits that could result 

from addressing unnecessary fragmentation, overlap, or duplication was 

not possible in some cases because information about the extent of 

duplication among certain programs was not available. Further, the 

financial benefits that can be achieved from addressing fragmentation, 

overlap, or duplication or taking advantage of other opportunities for cost 

savings and enhanced revenues were not always quantifiable in advance 

of congressional and executive branch decision making. Further, needed 

information was not readily available on, among other things, program 

performance, the level of funding devoted to overlapping programs, or the 

implementation costs and time frames that might be associated with 

program consolidations or terminations. 

Appendix VI provides additional information on the federal programs or 

other activities related to the new areas of fragmentation, overlap, 

duplication, and cost savings or revenue enhancement discussed in this 

report, including budgetary information when available.

We assessed the reliability of any computer-processed data that 

materially affected our findings, including cost savings and revenue 

enhancement estimates. The steps that we take to assess the reliability of 

data vary but are chosen to accomplish the auditing requirement that the 

data be sufficiently reliable given the purposes for which it is used in our 

 3

GAO, Managing for Results: Key Considerations for Implementing Interagency 

Collaborative Mechanisms, GAO-12-1022 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2012) and 

Managing for Results: Practices for Effective Agency Strategic Reviews, GAO-15-602

(Washington, D.C.: July 29, 2015). Information on GAO’s work on the GPRA 

Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) can be found at 

http://www.gao.gov/key_issues/managing_for_results_in_government/issue_summary

and information on GAO’s work on best and leading practices in collaboration can be 

found at http://www.gao.gov/key_issues/leading_practices_collaboration/issue_summary.
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology

Page 32 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

products. Our analysts review published documentation about the data 

system and inspector general or other reviews of the data. We may 

interview agency or outside officials to better understand system controls 

and to assure ourselves that we understand how the data are produced 

and any limitations associated with the data. We may also electronically 

test the data to see whether values in the data conform to agency 

testimony and documentation regarding valid values, or we may compare 

data to source documents. In addition to these steps we often compare 

data with other sources as a way to corroborate our findings. For each 

submission in this report, specific information on data reliability is located 

in the related products.

We provided drafts of our new-area summaries to the relevant agencies 

for their review and incorporated these comments as appropriate.

To examine the extent to which Congress and executive branch agencies 

have made progress in implementing the 724 actions in the 278 areas we 

have reported on in previous annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, 

and duplication, we reviewed relevant legislation and agency documents 

such as budgets, policies, strategic and implementation plans, guidance, 

and other information between April 2017 and March 2018. We also 

analyzed, to the extent possible, whether or not financial or other benefits 

have been attained, and included this information as appropriate (see 

discussion below on the methodology we used to estimate financial 

benefits). In addition, we discussed the implementation status of the 

actions with officials at the relevant agencies. Throughout this report, we 

present our counts as of March 2018 because that is when we received 

our last updates. The progress statements and updates are published on

our Action Tracker.

We used the following criteria in assessing the status of actions:

• In assessing actions suggested for Congress, we applied the following 

criteria: “addressed” means relevant legislation is enacted and 

addresses all aspects of the action needed; “partially addressed” 

means a relevant bill has passed a committee, the House of 

Representatives, or the Senate, or relevant legislation has been 

enacted but only addressed part of the action needed; and “not 

addressed” means a bill may have been introduced but did not pass 

out of a committee, or no relevant legislation has been introduced. At 

the beginning of a new congressional session, we reapply the criteria. 

As a result, the status of an action may move from partially addressed 

Assessing the Status 

of Previously 

Identified Actions
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology

Page 33 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

to not addressed if relevant legislation is not reintroduced from the 

prior congressional session.

• In assessing actions suggested for the executive branch, we applied 

the following criteria: “addressed” means implementation of the action 

needed has been completed; “partially addressed” means the action 

needed is in development or started but not yet completed; and “not 

addressed” means the administration, the agencies, or both have 

made minimal or no progress toward implementing the action needed.

Since 2011, we have categorized 51 actions as “other” and are no longer 

assessing these actions. We categorized 34 “other” actions as 

“consolidated or other.” In most cases, “consolidated or other” actions 

were replaced or subsumed by new actions based on additional audit 

work or other relevant information. We also categorized 17 of the “other” 

actions as “closed-not addressed.” Actions are generally “closed-not 

addressed” when the action is no longer relevant because of changing 

circumstances.

In order to calculate the total financial benefits resulting from actions 

already taken and potential financial benefits from actions that are not 

fully addressed, our analysts compiled available estimates for all of the 

actions from our Action Tracker, from 2011 through 2017, and from 

reports identified for inclusion in the 2018 annual report, and linked 

supporting documentation to those estimates. Each estimate was 

reviewed by one of our technical specialists to ensure that estimates were 

based on reasonably sound methodologies. The savings estimates came 

from a variety of sources, including our analysis, Congressional Budget 

Office estimates, individual agencies, the Joint Committee on Taxation, 

and others. Because of differences in time frames, underlying 

assumptions, quality of data, and methodologies among these individual 

estimates, any attempt to generate a total will be associated with 

uncertainty that limits the precision of this calculation. As a result, our 

totals represent a rough estimate of financial benefits, rather than an 

exact total.

For actions that have already been taken, individual estimates of realized 

cost savings covered a range of time periods stretching from 2010 

through 2025. In order to calculate the total amount of realized financial 

benefits that have already accrued and those that are expected to accrue, 

we separated those that accrued from 2010 through 2017 and those 

expected to accrue between 2018 and 2025. For individual estimates that 

Methodology for 

Generating Total Cost 

Savings Estimates
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope and 

Methodology

Page 34 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

span both periods, we assumed that financial benefits were distributed 

evenly over the period of the estimate.4 For each category, we summed 

the individual estimates in order to generate a total. To account for 

uncertainty and imprecision resulting from the differences in individual 

estimates, we present these realized savings to the nearest billion dollars, 

rounded down.

There is a higher level of uncertainty for estimates of potential financial 

benefits taken because these estimates are dependent on whether, how, 

and when agencies and Congress take our recommended actions. As a 

result, many estimates of potential savings are notionally stated using 

terms like millions, tens of millions, or billions to demonstrate a magnitude 

without providing a more precise estimate.

Further, many of these estimates are not tied to specific time frames for 

the same reason. In order to calculate a total for potential savings, with a 

conservative approach, we used the minimum number associated with 

each term.5 To account for the increased uncertainty of potential 

estimates and the imprecision resulting from differences among individual 

estimates, we calculated potential financial benefits to the nearest $10 

billion, rounded down, and presented our results using a notional term.

This report is based upon work GAO previously conducted in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards. Generally 

accepted government auditing standards require that we plan and 

perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a 

reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit 

objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

 4

For example, if an individual estimate was for $10 billion dollars to accrue from 2014 to 

2023, we assumed that $1 billion would be earned each year. As a result, $4 billion would 

be counted as “already accrued” through 2017, while the other $6 billion would be counted 

as “expected to accrue” from 2018 and later.

5

For example, if GAO had stated that an agency could potentially save “hundreds of 

millions,” we would use $100 million as part of our calculation of the total.
Appendix II: New Areas in Which GAO Has 

Identified Fragmentation, Overlap, or 

Duplication

Page 35 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This appendix presents 13 new areas in which we found evidence of 

fragmentation, overlap, or duplication among federal government 

programs.

Appendix II: New Areas in Which GAO Has 

Identified Fragmentation, Overlap, or 

Duplication
Appendix II: New Areas in Which GAO Has 

Identified Fragmentation, Overlap, or 

Duplication

Page 36 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This page is left blank.
Page 37 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Improved coordination between the Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety and Inspection Service 

on the oversight of imported seafood would help the agencies better manage fragmentation and more 

consistently protect consumers from unsafe drug residues.

Imported seafood now accounts for over 90 percent of the seafood 

consumed in the United States, with about half coming from fish farming. 

Farmed fish grown in confined areas can have high rates of bacterial 

infections. To increase survival rates, farmers may treat the fish with 

drugs, such as antibiotics and antifungal agents. The residues of some 

drugs can cause cancer or allergic reactions; therefore, effective federal 

oversight is important to help ensure that imported seafood is safe for 

U.S. consumers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the 

Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are together 

responsible for ensuring the safety of imported seafood. Specifically, 

FSIS is responsible for ensuring the safety of catfish and FDA is 

responsible for all other seafood.

In September 2017, GAO found that FDA and FSIS had not fully 

coordinated on drug residue testing methods as called for in a 1984 

memorandum of understanding between the agencies. For example, the 

agencies generally did not coordinate in developing drug residue testing 

methods and the corresponding residue levels for unapproved drugs that 

define unsafe drug residues in imported seafood. As a result, the 

agencies are not leveraging each other’s knowledge and resources in this 

important area. Specifically, FDA developed its own testing method that 

looks for 26 drugs, while FSIS developed a testing method that looks for 

61 drugs. In addition, there were a number of cases in which the agencies 

were using different drug residue levels for the same unapproved drugs to 

determine if seafood was unsafe. For example, for one antibiotic, FDA 

considers anything above its level to be unsafe, yet the level that FSIS 

considered unsafe in catfish was 20 times higher than FDA’s level.

GAO recommended that FDA and FSIS coordinate in developing testing 

methods and corresponding residue levels for imported seafood. FDA 

agreed with this recommendation. FSIS partially agreed and stated that, 

while GAO’s audit work may have found examples where officials were 

unaware of a specific activity conducted by another agency, the U.S. 

Agricultural Research Service (another Department of Agriculture 

agency), FSIS, and FDA regularly share information related to analytical 

methods for identifying and quantifying residues of drugs, pesticides, and 

environmental contaminants. Nevertheless, FSIS stated that it fully

intended to implement the provisions of the memorandum of 

understanding with FDA on coordinating testing methods.

Implementation of this recommendation could better manage 

fragmentation by improving coordination and communication between 

1. Imported Seafood Oversight

Potential Benefit

More effective oversight

Implementing Entity

Food and Drug Administration and 

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions for the 

agencies to take to improve oversight 

of imported seafood. See GAO’s 

Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-443

Contact Information

Steve Morris at (202) 512-3841 or 

morriss@gao.gov
Page 38 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

FDA and FSIS on their development of drug residue testing methods, and 

help the agencies have reasonable assurance that they are taking a 

consistent approach to ensuring consumer safety from unsafe drug 

residues.

Table 16 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to FDA and FSIS for review 

and comment. FDA said that it had no comments on this report section. 

FSIS provided minor technical comments, which GAO incorporated.

Imported Seafood Safety: FDA and USDA Could Strengthen Efforts to 

Prevent Unsafe Drug Residues. GAO-17-443. Washington, D.C.: 

September 15, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO 

Products
Page 39 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

By minimizing unnecessary overlap and duplication and more efficiently using its U.S. distribution centers to

store and process goods for troop support, such as clothing and weapon systems repair parts, the Department 

of Defense could potentially save approximately $527 million over 5 years.

The Department of Defense (DOD) manages a complex, multibilliondollar system for delivering commodities and services to U.S. military 

forces worldwide. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the military 

departments independently operate a large network of distribution centers 

in the U.S. and overseas to store and process goods such as clothing, 

food, medicine, and repair parts for weapon systems. In 2011, DOD 

identified potentially overlapping and duplicative functions across these 

centers. 

DOD program officials found that DLA and the military departments 

provided distribution services—including storage and processing—at 256 

distribution centers in the United States that often are close to one 

another or on the same military installations. They also found that 91 of 

the distribution centers accounted for 95 percent of the total network’s 

historical workload. Moreover, in 2016, DOD found instances where the 

military departments’ maintenance depots used private storage for 

government-owned inventory when DLA distribution centers were nearby. 

In June 2017, GAO found that, while DOD had taken steps to increase 

the use of DLA’s U.S. distribution centers, the agency also has other 

opportunities to use its entire network of U.S. centers more efficiently. 

Specifically, DOD established a program to, among other things, 

decrease the number of U.S. distribution centers. However, in October 

2014, DOD discontinued the program without implementing its plan to 

reduce the number of distribution centers. DLA officials acknowledged 

that unnecessary overlap and duplication continue to exist. 

DOD officials told GAO the department needs Base Realignment and 

Closure authority to address any additional inefficiencies. Under Base 

Realignment and Closure authority, Congress authorizes an independent

federal commission to review and determine whether to forward DOD’s 

proposals to realign and close military installations to the President for 

approval. In each annual budget request since fiscal year 2013, the 

department has requested this authority. Congress has not approved it. 

GAO found, however, that DOD has existing authorities it can use to 

minimize unnecessary overlap and duplication, and more efficiently use 

its network of distribution centers. For example, DOD could use its 

existing authorities to close or realign its installations and functions 

outside of a Base Realignment and Closure round. If doing so would 

exceed certain thresholds set out in 10 U.S.C. § 2687—based on the 

number of civilian personnel affected or potentially affected—DOD must

notify Congress then wait 60 days before taking any irreversible actions. 

2. Defense Distribution Centers

Potential Benefit

$527 million over 5 years

Implementing Entity

Department of Defense

Link to Actions

GAO identified one action to minimize 

unnecessary overlap and duplication 

and more efficiently use DOD’s U.S. 

distribution centers. See GAO’s Action 

Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-449

Contact Information

Andrew J. Von Ah at (213) 830-1011 

or vonaha@gao.gov
Page 40 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

In addition, DOD has the authority to demolish real property when a 

facility’s condition has deteriorated. GAO found that DLA has used 

existing authorities to realign functions and demolish some facilities to 

gain efficiencies at its distribution centers. However, DOD had not 

assessed the extent to which the department could further use its existing 

authorities to minimize unnecessary overlap or duplication. Without an 

assessment of the use of DOD’s existing authorities, inefficiencies in 

DOD’s network of U.S. distribution centers may remain. 

In June 2017, GAO recommended that DOD assess and direct the 

implementation of actions, as appropriate, that can be taken using 

existing authorities to close, realign, or dispose of existing infrastructure. 

This would allow DOD to use its network of U.S. distribution centers more 

efficiently. DOD concurred, and in July 2017, began reviewing its 

secondary item inventory warehousing to consolidate underused 

distribution centers.

By implementing the recommendation, DOD could operate its U.S. 

distribution centers more efficiently. DOD estimated in August 2017 that 

by consolidating some of these centers and reducing infrastructure, the 

department may realize a savings of approximately $527 million over 5 

years.

Table 17 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and 

comment. In February 2018, DOD officials stated that the department 

continues its efforts to achieve efficiencies through consolidation of 

distribution centers. Specifically, officials stated that DOD will conduct 

three site studies by fiscal year 2019 to assess the viability and any 

potential savings from consolidation at these locations.

Supply Chain Management: DOD Could More Efficiently Use Its 

Distribution Centers. GAO-17-449. Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO 

Products
Page 41 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

To reduce the risk of unnecessary duplication, the Department of Defense should assign a single organization 

responsibility for ensuring that common solutions for Global Positioning System receiver card modernization 

efforts are collected and shared among hundreds of programs. Receiver card modernization for a small portion 

of weapon systems is estimated to cost $2.5 billion through fiscal year 2021.

Since 2000, the U.S. Air Force has led the multibillion dollar effort to 

modernize Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and ground 

systems. This effort includes modernizing military receiver cards. These 

cards determine a user’s position and time by calculating the distance 

from four or more satellites using the navigation signals on the satellites 

to determine the card’s location. Specifically, the receiver cards will be 

modernized to utilize a stronger, encrypted, military-specific GPS signal 

called M-code. This signal is designed to meet military positioning, 

navigation, and timing needs, and to address threats such as GPS 

jamming. Developing the receiver card technologies to deliver the M-code 

capability is complex work, with the collective effort years behind initial 

estimates. 

After the Air Force develops initial receiver cards, the breadth and 

complexity of this acquisition will multiply. Numerous offices across DOD 

responsible for upgrading hundreds of weapon systems will have to 

further develop and test cards that meet the unique needs of their 

respective systems. The military services, Missile Defense Agency, and 

Special Operations Command identified 716 types of weapon systems in 

their February 2017 receiver card implementation plans. 

These systems will require almost a million M-code receiver cards. 

Complete funding estimates for equipping these systems with the new 

receiver cards have not been developed. However, initial funding 

estimates through fiscal year 2021 for a small portion of these weapon 

systems indicate a cost of more than $2.5 billion to integrate and procure 

the new receiver cards. Given the cost and complexity of this effort, it will 

be critical for DOD to use sound, centralized planning and coordination to 

help programs identify opportunities for different weapon systems to use 

common receiver card solutions.

In December 2017, GAO found that DOD had not established a plan to 

help ensure that common design solutions for receiver cards can be 

readily identified and employed across the department. As a result, DOD 

risks duplicating efforts to fulfill its GPS modernization needs. It also risks 

paying to repeatedly find design solutions to common problems. 

GAO recommended that as part of M-code receiver card acquisition 

planning, DOD assign an organization with responsibility for 

systematically collecting integration test data, lessons learned, and 

design solutions, and making them available to all programs expected to 

3. GPS Modernization

Potential Benefit

Improved agency planning and 

coordination to prevent duplicative 

development efforts and support 

efficient use of resources

Implementing Entity

Department of Defense

Link to Actions

GAO identified one action to help the 

Department of Defense plan and 

coordinate receiver card development 

and procurement. See GAO’s Action 

Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-74

Contact Information

Cristina Chaplain at (202) 512-4841 or 

chaplainc@gao.gov
Page 42 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

integrate M-code receiver cards. DOD concurred with this 

recommendation. 

The efficiencies that DOD would achieve from improved planning and 

coordination for the GPS modernization effort could yield cost savings by 

avoiding duplicative development efforts. However, GAO cannot estimate 

the value of any such savings since the extent of duplicative 

developments that would occur with or without improved planning and 

coordination cannot be measured with any certainty.

Table 18 in appendix VI lists federal programs or activities related to this 

issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and 

comment. An official speaking on behalf of the Air Force provided 

examples of actions DOD has taken or offices in place—primarily within 

the Air Force—that centralized management of GPS receiver 

requirements. Also, despite DOD originally concurring with the 

recommendation, the Air Force official stated that centralizing all test data 

is not practical nor was it necessary in acquiring previous generations of 

GPS receiver cards. 

Relatedly, the official noted some programs may be reluctant to share 

data with others within the department. However, none of the examples 

the official provided demonstrate an attempt to prevent unnecessary 

duplication of effort across the department. GAO maintains that assigning 

a single organization to coordinate efforts across DOD is important to 

effectively manage duplication.

Global Positioning System: Better Planning and Coordination Needed to 

Improve Prospects for Fielding Modernized Capability. GAO-18-74. 

Washington, D.C.: December 12, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 43 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Office of Management and Budget should explore options to address the risk that federal agencies may 

offer duplicative identity theft services in response to data breaches, potentially saving millions of dollars 

annually in unnecessary expenditures.

The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to 

provide individuals affected by data breaches at federal agencies with 

credit monitoring and other identity theft services. In March 2017, GAO 

reported that in some cases federal agencies have offered duplicative 

services by providing some individuals with essentially the same identity 

theft services at the same time. For example, after two breaches at the 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency offered duplicative 

identity theft services, obligating $248 million under two separate 

contracts in 2015, to the approximately 3.6 million people who were 

affected by both breaches. 

Other federal agencies also face the potential for duplication. For 

example, in June 2015, the Department of Homeland Security offered 18 

months of free identity theft services to approximately 48,000 individuals. 

Some of these individuals were federal employees who may also have 

been offered identity theft services by OPM. 

The federal government does not have a policy or process in place to 

avoid offering duplicative identity theft services. While the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) provides agencies with guidance on the 

use of identity theft services, the guidance does not address whether and 

how agencies should consider the risk of duplication when deciding to 

purchase these services. Both Congress and the administration have 

cited the goal of reducing unnecessary duplication in the federal 

government. Without a government-wide policy or process to coordinate 

the use of identity theft services across the federal government, agencies 

may continue to offer duplicative services that may be wasteful or 

unnecessary.

GAO recommended in March 2017 that the Director of OMB explore 

options to address the risk of duplication in federal agencies’ provision of 

identity theft services in response to data breaches, and take action if 

viable options are identified. For example, OMB might help coordinate the 

response across agencies or provide guidance intended to avoid 

duplication of services. Responding to this recommendation in oral 

comments, OMB cited practical challenges that it said would make 

addressing potential duplication in the provision of identity theft services 

very difficult. For example, logistical and privacy issues may be 

associated with maintaining a master database of individuals who receive 

identity theft services across federal agencies. GAO acknowledges these 

challenges but maintains that an exploration by OMB of viable options to 

mitigate the risk of duplicative coverage is warranted.

4. Federal Use of Identity Theft Services

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars annually

Implementing Entity

Office of Management and Budget

Link to Actions

GAO identified one action to prevent 

duplication in federal agencies’ 

provision of identity theft services. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-254

Contact Information

Anna Maria Ortiz at (202) 512-8678 or 

OrtizA@gao.gov
Page 44 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Implementation of this recommendation could help prevent agencies from 

offering individuals duplicative identity theft services, potentially saving 

millions of dollars annually, depending on future procurement of such 

services. 

Table 19 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to OMB for review and 

comment. OMB did not provide comments on this report section.

Identity Theft Services: Services Offer Some Benefits but Are Limited in 

Preventing Fraud. GAO-17-254. Washington, D.C.: March 30, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 45 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Department of Health and Human Services should coordinate with federal agencies, including the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, to improve the effectiveness and oversight of fragmented federal funding for 

physician graduate medical education, which cost the federal government $14.5 billion in 2015.

The number, specialties, and geographic distribution of physicians in the 

United States depend in part on federal funding for graduate medical 

education (GME) training—commonly known as residency training. The 

federal government spent $14.5 billion on GME training in 2015 (the most 

recent comprehensive data available). However, the funding is 

fragmented across federal programs managed by multiple agencies, but 

is largely through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

Funding sources include Medicare (71 percent), Medicaid (16 percent), 

the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (10 percent), and HHS’s 

Children’s Hospital GME (2 percent) and Teaching Health Center GME (1 

percent) programs. Almost half of recipients—such as teaching hospitals 

and medical schools—received funds from more than one program. 

Federal oversight of the programs is similarly fragmented. For example, 

multiple federal agencies are generally responsible for payment audits 

and performance evaluations of their respective GME funding programs. 

In addition, GAO and other experts have raised concerns about a lack of 

coordinated, comprehensive planning for federal health care workforce 

programs and a lack of accountability of GME funds. 

In March 2018, GAO found that federal agencies are not collecting 

sufficient information to comprehensively evaluate the performance of 

GME programs. Information is not always complete, especially with 

respect to Medicaid GME spending, and not consistently collected within 

or across programs. Under leading practices GAO derived from the 

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the GPRA 

Modernization Act of 2010, and federal standards for internal controls, 

agencies should identify and collect complete and reliable information 

needed to evaluate the performance of federal programs. In addition, 

agencies should use the information they collect to monitor program 

performance and make improvements, or to make recommendations to 

Congress. 

Without this information, HHS cannot comprehensively understand its 

investment in GME training. Further, HHS cannot identify gaps between 

programs’ results and physician workforce needs, which limits HHS’s 

ability to make informed changes or recommendations to Congress to 

improve the efficient and effective use of federal GME funds.

HHS, as the largest funder of GME training, has an important role in 

ensuring federal programs are meeting the nation’s physician workforce

needs. GAO recommended that HHS coordinate with federal agencies 

that fund the GME programs, including VA, to identify (1) information 

5. Graduate Medical Education Funding

Potential Benefit

More efficient and effective use and 

oversight of graduate medical 

education federal funding

Implementing Entity

Department of Health and Human 

Services

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to improve 

the information needed to 

comprehensively evaluate the federal 

government’s investment in graduate 

medical education. See GAO’s Action 

Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-240

Contact Information

James Cosgrove at (202) 512-7114 or 

cosgrovej@gao.gov
Page 46 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

needed to evaluate the performance of federal programs that fund GME, 

including the extent to which these programs are efficient and costeffective and are meeting the nation’s health care workforce needs; and 

(2) opportunities to improve the quality and consistency of the information 

collected within and across federal programs, and to implement these 

improvements. HHS concurred with GAO’s recommendations and noted 

that the President’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposed consolidating 

Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Hospital GME program into a 

single grant program. HHS officials said that, if the proposal is adopted by 

Congress, it would allow it to work toward addressing the 

recommendations. However, GAO noted that, in the absence of 

legislation, HHS still needs to improve the information collected.

These actions could help HHS collect better information that could be 

used to monitor the performance of federal programs that fund GME 

training. HHS would be better positioned to identify and address gaps 

between existing funding and physician workforce needs. 

Table 20 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budgetary information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to HHS and VA for review and 

comment. VA provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated. 

HHS did not provide comments on this report section.

Physician Workforce: HHS Needs Better Information to Comprehensively 

Evaluate Graduate Medical Education Funding. GAO-18-240. 

Washington, D.C.: March 9, 2018.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 47 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Veterans Health Administration should strengthen its human resources internal control practices and its 

employee performance management processes to address fragmentation across the agency and improve its 

ability to serve veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Veterans Health Administration 

(VHA) provided care to about 6 million veterans in fiscal year 2016. The 

demand for its services is expected to grow in the coming years in part 

because of the growing needs of an aging veteran population. At the 

same time, VA faces serious and long-standing problems with veterans’ 

access to care and management failures.

In December 2016, GAO found that VHA’s limited human resources (HR) 

capacity combined with weak internal control practices has undermined 

VHA’s HR operations and its ability to improve delivery of health care 

services to veterans. For example, VHA HR staff attrition has increased,

affecting VA’s ability to recruit and hire critical clinical staff. Further, VA 

and VHA leadership had not established clear lines of authority or 

effective coordination between fragmented central HR and medical center 

HR offices. As a result, leaders are unable to monitor HR improvement 

efforts, and ensure that HR offices consistently apply policies.

GAO also found that VHA’s employee performance management system 

is inconsistent with leading HR practices and as a result, VHA may not be 

able to make meaningful distinctions in employee performance. Further, 

VHA is challenged by process inefficiencies, including the lack of a 

performance appraisal information technology (IT) system, which 

prevents it from identifying trends and potential improvements.

GAO made five recommendations to address these issues. Two are to 

improve the HR capacity at VA medical centers. VA has addressed the 

recommendation that HR staff complete a competency assessment; the 

other is to establish clear lines of accountability for, and monitoring of, HR 

improvement efforts. The other three focused on accelerating efforts to 

develop a modern, credible, and effective performance management 

system. 

VA concurred with the recommendations to improve HR capacity. First, in 

March 2017, the Acting Under Secretary for Health issued a 

memorandum establishing lines of accountability for effective HR service 

delivery. The memorandum also established requirements for monitoring 

the status of HR competency assessments and addressing HR 

deficiencies in a timely manner. In August 2017, VA’s HR office began 

providing quarterly reports to leadership on HR competency assessment 

completion rates. Then, in October 2017, VHA implemented a new 

process for assessing medical center HR offices and monitoring their 

progress in addressing deficiencies. GAO will continue to monitor VHA’s 

efforts as it fully implements these new procedures. 

6. VA Human Capital Challenges

Potential Benefit

Improved health care for veterans

Implementing Entity

Department of Veterans Affairs

Link to Actions

GAO identified five actions to address 

VA human capital challenges. VA has 

implemented one by requiring annual HR 

staff competency assessments and the 

monitoring of those results. See GAO’s 

Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-30

Contact Information

Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or 

goldenkoffr@gao.gov
Page 48 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

VA partially concurred with the three recommendations on performance 

management, but has made limited progress in addressing them. In 

January 2018, officials stated that VA has begun a broad effort to 

modernize its approach to HR. They said this effort will address IT and 

employee development issues, among other priorities. Yet VA must 

ensure meaningful distinctions are being made in employee performance 

ratings by revising performance management policies consistent with 

leading practices and implementing a process to standardize 

performance management for common VHA positions. Further, VA still 

must develop a plan that for implementing a modern performance 

management IT system.

Until VA and VHA leadership fully address these recommendations, HR 

central offices will continue to face challenges in improving the delivery of 

HR services at its medical centers, which ultimately impacts veteran care. 

Further, a modern, credible, and effective performance management 

system will help create more transparent rating and reward systems and 

develop a culture of performance where employees have a line of sight 

between their efforts and VA's mission to serve veterans.

Table 21 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to VHA for review and 

comment. In its comments, VA stated that its performance management 

policy contains leading practices and supports meaningful distinctions in 

performance. However, GAO maintains that VA’s policy is inconsistent 

with leading practices because it does not require standards to be defined 

for each level of performance. Without clearly defining and 

communicating these standards to employees, VA will not be positioned 

to make meaningful distinctions in employee performance.

Veterans Health Administration: Management Attention Is Needed to 

Address Systemic, Long-standing Human Capital Challenges. 

GAO-17-30. Washington, D.C.: December 23, 2016.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 49 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Coast Guard should close its boat stations that provide unnecessarily duplicative search and rescue 

coverage to improve operations and potentially save millions of dollars.

The Coast Guard maintains more than 200 boat stations, air stations, and 

air facilities along U.S. coasts and inland waterways. It has various 

assets, such as boats and helicopters, to carry out its missions, including 

search and rescue. In recent years, the Coast Guard has had to balance 

its broad array of missions while operating under constrained budgets. 

This challenge underscores the importance for the Coast Guard to ensure 

its stations are needed and optimally located.

In 2013, a Coast Guard study of boat stations identified overlapping 

search and rescue coverage where three or more boat stations could 

arrive on scene at a single case within the Coast Guard’s 2-hour standard 

for response. The Coast Guard considers some overlap or redundancy to 

be necessary to account for operational challenges, boat maintenance 

downtime, personnel training requirements, and the need for surge 

capacity. The scope of the study did not consider responses by 

helicopters from air stations or by local responders, which can provide 

additional search and rescue (SAR) coverage, or local responders who 

may also provide SAR response for their communities. 

The 2013 study determined that the Coast Guard could close 18 

unnecessarily duplicative boat stations without negatively affecting its 

ability to meet its response standard and other mission requirements (see 

table 22 in appendix VI). Coast Guard officials said the station closures 

would help improve operations. For example, the Coast Guard could 

consolidate boat station caseloads to help ensure personnel were active 

enough to maintain training requirements. In 2017, while the Coast Guard 

affirmed the 2013 study remained valid, it reported it had not closed any 

boat stations. 

In October 2017, GAO found that instead of closing stations, the Coast 

Guard recommended converting some year-round boat stations to 

seasonal stations that would operate during the summer boating season. 

However, GAO found that the 2013 Coast Guard study included a sound 

process for analyzing whether stations should be closed, not seasonally 

operated. Further, local officials confirmed that some stations should be 

permanently closed. GAO also found that the Coast Guard had not closed 

stations because past efforts to close stations (eight attempts since 1973) 

were met with resistance from affected communities and instances where 

the Congress intervened. 

GAO recommended the Coast Guard (1) establish a plan with target 

dates and milestones for closing boat stations that it determined provide 

overlapping SAR coverage, and are unnecessarily duplicative; and (2) 

7. Coast Guard Boat Stations

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Coast Guard

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions for the 

Coast Guard to address unnecessary 

duplication by closing boat stations.

See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-9

Contact Information

Nathan Anderson at (206) 287-4804 or 

AndersonN@gao.gov
Page 50 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

close the boat stations identified, according to its plan and target dates. 

While the Coast Guard, through the Department of Homeland Security, 

concurred with the recommendations, as of February 2018, it had not 

taken any actions to close unnecessary stations. GAO emphasized that 

the Coast Guard should move forward with minimal delay to implement 

this recommendation, given the robustness of the Coast Guard’s review 

process and the clear results showing unnecessary duplication among 

some boat stations.

Closing unnecessarily duplicative stations may better position the Coast 

Guard to improve its operations. Doing so could also achieve millions of 

dollars in cost savings. 

Table 23 in appendix VI lists federal programs or activities related to this 

issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Coast Guard for review 

and comment. The Coast Guard provided technical comments, which 

were incorporated as appropriate.

Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Close Stations Identified as Overlapping 

and Unnecessarily Duplicative. GAO-18-9. Washington, D.C.: October 26, 

2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 51 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

By addressing fragmentation in their physical security management structure, the Department of Commerce 

and the National Institute of Standards and Technology could improve their physical security program.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the United 

States' national physical laboratory, which among other matters is 

responsible for developing measurement standards. In 2017, NIST, 

located within the Department of Commerce (Commerce), employed 

approximately 3,500 federal personnel and hosted about 4,000 

associates, who include guest researchers and facility users. NIST’s two 

campuses in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado, house 

laboratory programs that contain human, physical, and intellectual capital 

assets. Independent security assessments in 2015 found issues with 

NIST’s security program. 

In October 2017, GAO found that management of NIST’s physical 

security program was fragmented between Commerce and NIST. 

Specifically, Commerce’s Office of Security (OSY) is responsible for 

overseeing security personnel who implement physical security policies, 

while NIST manages physical security countermeasures such as access 

control technology. According to an OSY official, this fragmented 

approach has resulted in flaws in NIST’s physical security program. For 

example, because OSY has no responsibility or authority regarding 

security technology, it cannot develop policies and procedures associated 

with the technology that OSY personnel use. Further, neither Commerce 

nor NIST has assessed whether the current structure is the most 

appropriate way to fulfill NIST’s security requirements. 

GAO reported that Commerce and NIST had overlapping physical 

security-related risk management activities, potentially leading to 

unnecessary duplication. While NIST developed a process to 

independently perform risk management steps in February 2017, 

Commerce concurrently took steps to improve its compliance departmentwide with the Interagency Security Committee risk management process 

standard. All federal agencies, including Commerce, generally must 

comply with this standard. However, NIST and Commerce did not 

coordinate their efforts. As a result, NIST missed an opportunity to 

leverage progress Commerce made toward aligning risk management 

processes with the standard department-wide. Further, according to 

Commerce and NIST officials, as of October 2017, the two entities were 

separately drafting new risk management policies. 

GAO recommended that Commerce’s Director of OSY, in coordination 

with the NIST Director, take action to evaluate the effectiveness of the 

current security management structure as compared to a consolidated 

security structure, centrally managed by OSY, to identify the most 

effective and feasible approach to physical security at NIST. GAO also 

8. National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Security Program Management

Potential Benefit

Coordination of physical security 

program and activities

Implementing Entity

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology in the Department of 

Commerce

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to help 

address control weaknesses. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-95

Contact Information

Seto Bagdoyan at (202) 512-6722 or 

bagdoyans@gao.gov
Page 52 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

recommended that the NIST Director finalize and implement risk 

management policies and procedures, ensuring that they contain a formal 

coordination mechanism between OSY and NIST and are aligned with 

Commerce’s revised risk management policy. 

Commerce concurred with the two recommendations on behalf of NIST 

and stated that it is committed to establishing an action plan to address 

them that will improve NIST’s physical security program. Without ensuring 

that the NIST policy contains a formal mechanism to coordinate with 

OSY, future risk management activities may be limited in their usefulness 

and duplicative.

Table 24 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to Commerce for review and 

comment. Commerce officials had no comments on this report section.

Physical Security: NIST and Commerce Need to Complete Efforts to 

Address Persistent Challenges. GAO-18-95. Washington, D.C.: October 

11, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 53 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Social Security Administration should evaluate its quality assurance reviews of decisions on appealed 

disability claims, which cost at least $11 million in fiscal year 2016, to reduce or better manage overlap 

between the types of reviews.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) manages two disability benefit 

programs—Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income—that 

together provide about 16 million Americans with about $200 billion in 

benefits annually. A claimant who is dissatisfied with the initial decision on 

his or her application can ultimately appeal at a hearing. Here, an 

administrative law judge reviews the case and any new evidence 

submitted by the claimant. GAO placed Disability Insurance and 

Supplemental Security Income, along with other disability programs, on 

its High-Risk List in 2003 because of their large workloads and the need 

to modernize the programs. 

In fiscal year 2016, administrative law judges issued more than 637,000 

decisions on appealed disability claims for Disability Insurance and 

Supplemental Security Income. SSA spent at least $11 million in fiscal 

year 2016 on various types of quality reviews to monitor the accuracy and 

consistency of these decisions for both programs. However, in December 

2017, GAO found that some of these reviews may overlap and SSA has 

not systematically evaluated them. Specifically, SSA conducts five types 

of quality assurance reviews of hearings decisions, several of which have 

similar goals and could potentially include the same claims. SSA has not 

evaluated the efficiency or effectiveness of these reviews. Moreover, the 

agency has struggled to sustain all of its quality review efforts because of 

competing priorities—two of the five types of reviews were curtailed in 

2016 because SSA reassigned staff to help expedite claims decisions. 

Prior GAO work has found that enhanced coordination can help reduce 

overlap and improve efficiency. SSA officials acknowledged that 

opportunities exist to improve coordination across components 

conducting quality assurance reviews. In 2017, the agency took steps to 

improve coordination by consolidating the entities responsible for most 

hearings-level quality assurance reviews into one office. While this 

reorganization creates the opportunity for SSA to assess many of its 

quality assurance reviews, it is too early to tell how it will help manage the 

overlap between SSA’s various quality assurance reviews. 

GAO recommended in its 2017 report that SSA systematically evaluate its 

quality assurance reviews and take steps to reduce or better manage any 

unnecessary overlap among them. SSA concurred with this 

recommendation. By evaluating which quality assurance reviews are 

most effective in improving accuracy and consistency, SSA would be 

better positioned to meet its goals within its resources.

9. Reviews of SSA Disability Appeals

Potential Benefit

Reduce overlap and provide for more 

efficient use of resources

Implementing Entity

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Link to Actions

GAO identified one action to help SSA 

address overlapping quality assurance 

reviews. See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-37

Contact Information

Charles Jeszeck at (202) 512-7215 or 

jeszeckc@gao.gov
Page 54 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 25 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to SSA for review and 

comment. SSA stated that it recognizes some overlap of the hearingslevel quality reviews. SSA noted that since it created a new office to 

consolidate most of the entities responsible for hearings-level quality 

reviews, staff in the new office are working together to identify areas 

where hearings-level quality reviews can be combined to ensure the most 

effective use of resources. In addition, the agency is exploring training 

and other opportunities to facilitate consolidation of their efforts. SSA also 

provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Social Security Disability: Additional Measures and Evaluation Needed to 

Enhance Accuracy and Consistency of Hearings Decisions. GAO-18-37. 

Washington, D.C.: December 7, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 55 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

To better manage fragmentation in service delivery, the Social Security Administration should explore options 

for better connecting transition-age youth receiving Supplemental Security Income to vocational rehabilitation 

services.

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides cash benefits 

to low-income individuals, including children and youth, who meet 

financial eligibility requirements and who are blind or have disabilities. In 

December 2017, the Social Security Administration (SSA) paid SSI 

benefits to nearly 1.2 million individuals under age 18. The number of 

individuals with disabilities under age 18 receiving SSI benefits increased 

by about 40 percent from December 2000 to December 2017. Transitionage youth (those ages 14 to 17) who receive SSI benefits face numerous 

challenges to achieving self-sufficiency as they move into adulthood. 

These youth transition from receiving most of their services as 

entitlements through their schools to one in which services can be more 

difficult to access.

In May 2017, GAO reported that SSA does not have a systematic way to 

connect transition-age youth on SSI to state vocational rehabilitation (VR) 

services provided by state agencies. These agencies provide VR services 

to individuals with disabilities as part of the Department of Education’s 

(Education) VR State Grants program. While VR agencies may provide 

employment services to transition-age youth with disabilities, the 

percentage of such youth receiving VR services in 2015 was small in the 

five states GAO reviewed—specifically, less than 1 percent in four states 

and approximately 3 percent in the fifth state. 

SSA’s Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency (Ticket to Work) program 

assists adult SSI recipients in gaining access to VR or other employment 

services. However, SSA limited eligibility to SSI recipients age 18 and 

older. SSA has interpreted the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives 

Improvement Act of 1999 as rescinding its legal authority to refer 

individuals, including transition-age youth, to VR agencies for services. 

Most of the transition-age youth on SSI who are connected to VR 

agencies received transition services under their individualized education 

program (IEP). The IEP is the plan schools are required to establish for 

students with qualifying disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act, which is administered by Education. Neither schools nor 

SSA collect or analyze data that would allow them to determine the extent 

to which youth on SSI have IEPs that would help them connect to VR 

services.

GAO recommended that SSA (1) work with Education to determine the 

extent to which youth on SSI are not receiving transition services through 

schools that can connect them to VR agencies and services, and (2) 

10. Supplemental Security Income

Potential Benefit

Reduced dependency on SSI benefits 

due to improved employment outcomes

Implementing Entity

Social Security Administration

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to reduce 

fragmentation between SSA’s SSI 

program and Education’s VR State 

Grant program affecting transition-age 

youth. See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-485

Contact Information

Elizabeth Curda at (202) 512-7215 or 

curdae@gao.gov
Page 56 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

explore various options for increasing connections to VR agencies and 

services, including potential costs and benefits, such as expanding the 

Ticket to Work program to include youth, who are currently excluded. 

SSA partially agreed with the first recommendation, noting that the 

agency is already working with federal partners on a demonstration to 

improve outcomes for SSI youth (a project called Promoting Readiness of 

Minors in SSI, or PROMISE) and already has a blueprint for further 

collaboration through the Federal Partners in Transition working group. 

However, SSA said that sharing the data necessary to identify students 

receiving SSI who are not receiving transition services in schools may 

raise privacy concerns. Nevertheless, SSA has overcome privacy 

concerns and found work-arounds to share similar data in the past. GAO 

believes that SSA’s current efforts and plans are insufficient to measure 

the extent of the problem. Further, SSA could explore steps to mitigate 

barriers to information sharing. SSA agreed with the second 

recommendation. 

Implementing these recommendations could improve the management of 

fragmented services by enhancing coordination between SSA and 

Education, and increasing the number of transition-age youth on SSI 

receiving relevant VR services. Further, connecting transition-age youth 

to VR services could, in turn, reduce SSI expenditures if these services 

increase recipients’ earnings and self-sufficiency. 

Table 26 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to SSA for review and 

comment. SSA officials stated that SSA has taken initial actions to 

address GAO’s second recommendation, including publishing a Request 

for Information in the Federal Register specifically asking about a Ticketstyle program for youth and potential ways youth can connect with VR. 

GAO believes these are good first steps and will continue to monitor the 

implementation of these recommendations.

Supplemental Security Income: SSA Could Strengthen Its Efforts to 

Encourage Employment for Transition-Age Youth. GAO-17-485. 

Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 57 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Federal agencies that combat wildlife trafficking should clarify roles and responsibilities in Southeast Asia to 

better manage fragmentation and have more reasonable assurance that they can effectively marshal the 

contributions of all agencies.

Wildlife trafficking, an illegal trade worth at least an estimated $7 billion 

annually, continues to push some protected and endangered animal 

species to the brink of extinction. The Presidential Task Force on Wildlife 

Trafficking was established in 2013 to combat this problem. The task 

force includes the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 

Department of the Interior (DOI), and Department of State (State) as well 

as other federal agencies that have staff at home and overseas working 

to address the issue. In 2014, the White House released the task force’s 

Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. In February 2015, the task 

force released the National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking 

Implementation Plan (Implementation Plan), which identifies specific 

objectives and steps supported by programs overseen by task force 

agencies.

Wildlife at the Beijing, China, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

In October 2017, GAO found that although the task force’s 

Implementation Plan designates various task force agencies to lead or 

participate in strategic priorities, it does not define specific roles and 

responsibilities at the working level. GAO has previously reported that 

agencies should consider whether they have clarified the roles and 

responsibilities of participants in collaborative efforts and whether they 

have agreed to a process for making and enforcing decisions.

According to some officials, there were disagreements on roles and 

responsibilities surrounding training activities. Officials from some 

agencies—including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the 

Homeland Security Investigations arm of the Department of Homeland 

Security—believed they should be consulted and involved to a greater 

11. Combating Wildlife Trafficking

Potential Benefit

Increased collaboration leading to 

more effective and efficient efforts in 

addressing wildlife trafficking in 

Southeast Asia

Implementing Entity

Department of the Interior, Department 

of State, and U.S. Agency for 

International Development

Link to Actions

GAO identified three actions to clarify 

staff roles and responsibilities to 

combat wildlife trafficking efforts. 

USAID implemented one by improving 

collaboration and coordination efforts. 

See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-7

Contact Information

Kimberly Gianopoulos at (202) 512-

8612 or gianopoulosk@gao.gov
Page 58 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

degree. More clearly defining roles and responsibilities would enhance 

agency collaboration to better address wildlife trafficking issues. 

GAO made three recommendations—one each to USAID, DOI, and 

State—to clarify roles and responsibilities for staff collaborating on 

combating wildlife trafficking efforts in Southeast Asia. The agencies 

agreed with GAO’s recommendations. By ensuring that all relevant task 

force member agencies have agreed on and clearly defined roles and 

responsibilities, agencies will have more reasonable assurance that they 

can take full advantage of their expertise and resources in combating 

wildlife trafficking. 

After the report was published in October 2017, USAID implemented 

GAO’s recommendation by conducting a 3-day training course on 

combating wildlife trafficking for its mission staff that included two 180-

minute modules on working with agency partners and their respective 

roles and responsibilities. USAID also restarted its wildlife working group 

at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, which is tasked with identifying 

opportunities for coordination and collaboration between multiple 

agencies.

Table 27 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOI, State, and USAID for 

review and comment. USAID provided information that indicated full 

implementation of GAO’s recommendation, which is reflected above. 

DOI officials said that they are working closely with USAID, State, and 

other task force agencies to strengthen coordination and collaboration in 

the global effort to combat wildlife trafficking. In addition, DOI indicated 

that it will work with its fellow task force agencies to take additional steps 

to improve and formalize coordination activities in Southeast Asia. This 

includes agreeing on roles and responsibilities to facilitate better decision 

making, while ensuring resources are well placed. While DOI has made 

some progress, it could still take additional steps to fully address GAO’s 

recommendation, such as conducting training on or documenting roles 

and responsibilities. State officials said that they had no comments on this 

report section.

Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Agencies Are Taking Action to Reduce 

Demand but Could Improve Collaboration in Southeast Asia. GAO-18-7. 

Washington, D.C.: October 12, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 59 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Federal Select Agent Program needs to better coordinate workforce planning across its two agencies to 

help address fragmentation in oversight of high-containment laboratories.

Safety lapses have occurred at laboratories in the United States that 

handle hazardous pathogens and toxins (known as select agents) that 

may pose a serious threat to humans, animals, or plants. For example, in 

November 2016, the Department of Homeland Security discovered that a 

private laboratory had inadvertently sent a toxic form of ricin (a potentially 

lethal poison) to one of its training centers multiple times since 2011, 

potentially putting training participants at risk. 

These safety lapses raise concerns about the effectiveness of the Federal 

Select Agent Program, which oversees high-containment laboratories 

(including those at federal agencies and private institutions) located in the 

United States that conduct research on select agents. The program is 

administered by two agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services and 

the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the 

Department of Agriculture. These agencies share oversight responsibility. 

In October 2017, GAO reported that oversight of the Federal Select Agent 

Program is fragmented, as the program did not have a joint workforce 

plan that collectively identifies workforce and training needs to ensure the 

program has sufficient expertise to carry out its responsibilities. The 

program also lacked a plan to ensure that resources are being leveraged 

appropriately across CDC and APHIS. According to GAO’s past work, 

strategic workforce planning is an essential tool to help agencies align 

their workforces with their current and emerging missions and develop 

long-term strategies for acquiring, developing, and retaining staff. 

CDC and APHIS have faced challenges in hiring and retaining sufficient 

staff with the requisite expertise to perform laboratory inspections and 

other necessary work in a timely manner. Moreover, program officials 

from CDC and APHIS identified gaps in the training available to maintain 

their expertise. For example, CDC inspectors told GAO they need 

additional training opportunities to keep up with scientific changes in the 

field. APHIS officials also identified areas where they need additional 

training and stated that APHIS’s specific training needs have not always 

been explicitly addressed when CDC has taken the lead on training.

Senior program officials told GAO they manage this fragmentation by 

collaborating on many aspects of the program, such as communicating 

frequently at the director level and taking steps to coordinate some 

training. They also said that they had not developed a joint workforce plan 

because each component of the program has generally focused on its 

own agency’s needs when conducting workforce planning.

12. High-Containment Laboratories

Potential Benefit

Improved oversight of highcontainment laboratories.

Implementing Entity

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention and Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to help 

CDC and APHIS improve coordination 

of their workforce planning. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-145

Contact Information

Timothy M. Persons at (202) 512-6412 

or personst@gao.gov or John 

Neumann at (202) 512-3841 or

neumannj@gao.gov
Page 60 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

To improve technical expertise and overcome fragmentation, GAO 

recommended that the CDC and APHIS directors of the Federal Select 

Agent Program should work together to develop a joint workforce plan 

that assesses workforce and training needs for the program as a whole. 

CDC and APHIS agreed with the recommendations and stated in 

February 2018 that the Federal Select Agent Program was in the process 

of determining whether a joint workforce plan is feasible, given the 

different missions of the agencies.

Developing a joint workforce plan as recommended would help the 

program to better manage fragmentation by improving how it leverages 

resources, which in turn would help to ensure that all workforce and 

training needs are met.

Table 28 in appendix VI lists federal programs or activities related to this 

issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Departments of Health 

and Human Services and Agriculture for review and comment. The 

departments said they had no comments on this report section.

High-Containment Laboratories: Coordinated Actions Needed to Enhance 

the Select Agent Program’s Oversight of Hazardous Pathogens. GAO-18-

145. Washington, D.C.: October 19, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 61 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Meeting requirements to assess the 163 federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education 

programs could create opportunities to better manage fragmentation and overlap and enhance the 

effectiveness of the portfolio.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education 

programs can serve an important role by preparing students for careers in 

STEM fields and enhancing the nation's global competitiveness. As part 

of this effort, many federal agencies administer STEM education 

programs. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 

(COMPETES 2010) (Public Law 111-358) addresses coordination and 

oversight issues by requiring the establishment of an interagency 

committee (Committee on STEM Education) to inventory, review, and 

coordinate federal STEM education programs, among other things. This 

committee falls under the auspices of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy, which advises the president on the effects of science 

and technology on domestic and international affairs. 

In March 2018, GAO found that federal STEM education efforts are 

fragmented across 163 programs and 13 different agencies that spent 

$2.9 billion dollars in fiscal year 2016. Nearly all of these programs 

overlapped with at least one other program. For example, the Department 

of Health and Human Services’ Cancer Education Grants program and 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s National Space 

Grant College and Fellowship Project both aim to provide training for 

undergraduate or graduate students in biological sciences, among other 

fields. However, overlapping programs may differ in meaningful ways, 

such as the specific population served or a program’s stated goal. 

The Committee on STEM Education has not fully met its responsibilities 

to review agencies’ performance assessments of their STEM education 

programs, and to document these assessments in the federal STEM 

education inventory. These tasks are required by the committee’s 

authorizing charter and COMPETES 2010. Further, the Office of Science 

and Technology Policy has not reported, as required, on the outcomes of 

recent program assessments in its annual report. Documenting and 

reporting on the outcomes of such assessments could give program 

officials and policymakers useful information to manage any unnecessary 

overlap among these programs, and enhance program effectiveness.

Additionally, the committee has not reported federal STEM education 

programs’ participation rates of groups historically underrepresented in 

STEM fields. However, broadening the participation of such groups is one 

of the committee’s strategic goals. Moreover, COMPETES 2010 requires 

the committee to report the participation rates of women, 

underrepresented minorities, and persons in rural areas.

13. STEM Education Programs

Potential Benefit

Enhanced effectiveness of the federal 

STEM education portfolio

Implementing Entity

The Committee on STEM Education 

and the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy

Link to Actions

GAO identified three actions for the 

Committee on STEM Education and 

one for the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy. See GAO’s Action 

Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-290

Contact Information

Melissa Emrey-Arras at (617) 788-

0534 or emreyarrasm@gao.gov
Page 62 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

GAO made four recommendations in its March 2018 report. GAO 

recommended that the leadership of the Committee on STEM Education 

review and document performance assessments of STEM education 

programs, as well as report programs’ participation rates of 

underrepresented groups. GAO also recommended that the Director of 

the Office of Science and Technology Policy report on the outcomes of 

recently completed programs’ performance assessments in its annual 

report. The Committee and the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

agreed with these recommendations. 

Given the fragmentation and overlap among STEM education programs, 

such information could improve agencies’ ability to make well-informed 

decisions about the design of their programs and further enhance 

program effectiveness. Additionally, information on the participation of 

those historically underrepresented in STEM fields would help clarify 

whether the federal investment in STEM education is ultimately 

supporting its strategic goal of broadening participation to these 

populations. 

Table 29 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy and the Committee on STEM Education for review and 

comment. Officials provided technical comments, which GAO 

incorporated where appropriate.

Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Education: Actions 

Needed to Better Assess the Federal Investment. GAO-18-290. 

Washington, D.C.: March 23, 2018.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 63 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This appendix summarizes 10 new areas for Congress or executive 

branch agencies to consider taking action that could either reduce the 

cost of government operations or enhance revenue collections for the 

Treasury.

Appendix III: New Areas in Which GAO Has 

Identified Other Cost Savings or Revenue 

Enhancement Opportunities
Page 64 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This page is left blank.
Page 65 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Department of Defense needs to more efficiently and effectively manage foreign currency funds to 

potentially save millions of dollars.

The Department of Defense (DOD) requested about $60 billion for fiscal 

years 2009 through 2017 to buy goods and services overseas, and pay 

service members stationed abroad. DOD uses foreign currency exchange 

rates to budget and pay (i.e., disburse funds) for these expenses. The 

amounts available for overseas expenditures are affected by differences 

between the foreign currency rates selected during the budget formulation 

process and the market rates applied when the payments are disbursed.

In March 2018, GAO found that DOD has taken some steps to reduce 

costs in selecting foreign currency rates applied to overseas 

expenditures, but could do more to increase savings. DOD disburses 

foreign currency through a Department of the Treasury system, which 

offers DOD components a choice of rates that are available 5, 4, or 3 

days before or on the day of the disbursement. The cost of exchange 

rates generally increases the farther from the date of disbursement the 

rate is set. For example, in 2018, according to Army officials, the Army 

transitioned to the use of a 3-day instead of the more costly 5-day rate, 

estimating potential savings of up to $10 million annually.

However, DOD components have not fully reviewed the rates applied to 

overseas expenditures or determined whether other opportunities for 

savings might exist. GAO estimates that DOD could save millions of 

dollars annually if the services consistently selected the most costeffective rates. Analyzing data for June and July 2017, GAO found that 

the Air Force would have saved about $258,000 if it had made its foreign 

currency disbursements using the 3-day versus the 5-day rate. Assuming 

that the strength of the U.S. dollar remained relatively stable relative to 

other currencies over the course of the year, GAO estimates the Air Force 

would have saved about $1.5 million a year by using the 3-day rate. 

GAO also found that DOD has not identified the appropriate balance 

needed in its Foreign Currency Fluctuation Defense account. The account 

is used to maintain the buying power of DOD’s Military Personnel and 

Operation and Maintenance appropriations by covering losses due to 

fluctuations in the value of the dollar when converting to foreign 

currencies. 

Since fiscal year 2012, DOD has maintained the account’s balance at the 

statutory limit of $970 million without routinely analyzing projected losses 

and replenishing the account based on those projections. By maintaining 

the balance in the account at the statutory limit regardless of projected 

needs, DOD may not be making efficient use of the funds, since they 

could potentially be applied to support other defense activities or be 

returned to the Treasury after cancellation.

14. Foreign Currency Fluctuation

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Department of Defense

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to help 

identify cost savings opportunities. 

See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-221

Contact Information

Cary Russell at (202) 512-5431 or 

RussellC@gao.gov
Page 66 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

GAO recommended that DOD (1) review the foreign currency rates used 

at disbursement to determine whether cost-savings opportunities exist by 

more consistently selecting cost-effective rates and (2) analyze realized 

and projected losses to determine the necessary size of the Foreign 

Currency Fluctuation Defense account balance and use the results of this 

analysis as the basis for replenishing the account. 

DOD concurred with the first recommendation and outlined a plan to 

address it. DOD partially concurred with the second recommendation, 

stating that projecting foreign currency gains or losses can be difficult, 

and may introduce uncertainty and risk. However, GAO found that DOD 

already conducts similar analyses to inform decisions on using the 

Foreign Currency Fluctuation Defense account to cover losses. Further, 

GAO’s work found that flexibilities available to DOD to replenish the 

account can help it address uncertainty and reduce risk. An analysis to 

determine the necessary size of the Foreign Currency Fluctuation 

Defense account could allow DOD to use funds more efficiently.

Table 30 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO concurrently provided drafts of this report section and the underlying 

report on which it is based to DOD for comment. DOD’s response to 

GAO’s recommendations was incorporated above. DOD also noted that 

using one disbursement rate over another does not guarantee cost 

savings due to foreign currency fluctuations, and that historical 

performance of a particular rate does not indicate a future benefit. 

However, GAO found that rates are generally more expensive the farther 

from the date of disbursement. 

Defense Budget: Actions Needed to Improve the Management of Foreign 

Currency Funds. GAO-18-221. Washington, D.C.: April 3, 2018.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 67 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Department of Defense could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of supply operations at Army and 

Marine Corps depots and Navy shipyards and save tens of millions of dollars.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) manages about $18 billion of spare 

parts to support the repair and overhaul of combat vehicles, planes, 

helicopters, and ships at military depots and shipyards. To enhance 

efficiency and effectiveness, the military services were to transfer all of 

their retail inventory supply, storage, and distribution functions at most 

depot-level industrial sites to DLA. This change was a result of the 2005 

base realignment and closure round and a June 2005 Department of 

Defense (DOD) decision. 

In June 2016, GAO reported that the military services have, to varying 

degrees, transferred these functions at depots and shipyards to DLA. For 

example, the Air Force and Navy aviation depots transferred all retail 

functions to DLA. According to DOD officials and GAO’s assessment, the 

transfers led to a number of benefits (see figure for examples), including a 

19 and 4 percent reduction of on-hand inventory at the Air Force and 

Navy depots, respectively, for a total reduction of about $715 million.

Benefits from the Defense Logistics Agency Handling Retail Supply, Storage, and 

Distribution Functions at Air Force and Navy Aviation Depots

In contrast, the Army and Marine Corps have retained most supply 

functions at their depots. Further, DLA manages inventory at the Navy 

shipyards while still using Navy systems and processes, rather than those 

of DLA that may result in more supply efficiencies. DOD could conduct 

business case analyses to determine if further transfer of retail functions 

is warranted given the successful transfer of functions at the Air Force 

and Navy aviation depots and DLA’s increasing retail inventory expertise.

GAO recommended that DOD should (1) assess through a 

comprehensive business case analysis the cost and benefits of DLA 

managing the retail functions at Army and Marine Corps depots and Navy 

shipyards, and (2) use the analysis to make a decision on the degree to 

which DLA should manage these functions. DOD concurred.

15. Supply Operations at Military Depots

Potential Benefit

Tens of millions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Department of Defense

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to improve 

the efficiency and effectiveness of 

supply and depot operations. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-16-450

Contact Information

Diana Maurer at (202) 512-9627 or 

maurerd@gao.gov
Page 68 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

DOD has taken actions to address the first recommendation; however, it 

has not completed the business case analyses. First, in November 2017, 

DOD designated the transfer of these retail functions as an operating 

priority and established a plan with milestones through 2019. Second, the 

Marine Corps is conducting a series of business case analyses on its 

inventory management, which is due to be finalized in September 2018. 

DLA and the Army have begun planning a proof-of-concept regarding the 

transfer of retail functions at Anniston Army Depot with a final decision on 

implementation in June 2019. According to a senior DOD official, DLA 

and the Navy are working on a strategic memorandum of understanding 

to guide discussions on the role of DLA at the Navy shipyards.

Without the business case analyses, decision makers will not be 

positioned to make cost-effective decisions. In April 2015, DLA projected 

it could reduce on-hand inventory by about $155 million based on the 

assumption of a 3.5 percent on-hand inventory reduction due to the 

transfer of retail functions at the Army and Marine Corps depots and Navy 

shipyards. The transfer also entails potential costs such as the 

implementation of information technology systems. DOD could potentially 

achieve cost-savings while also improving supply performance to depots. 

Table 31 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and 

comment. DOD provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated 

as appropriate.

Defense Inventory: Further Analysis and Enhanced Metrics Could 

Improve Service Supply and Depot Operations. GAO-16-450. 

Washington, D.C.: June 9, 2016.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 69 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

By addressing weaknesses in the management and oversight of the Universal Service Fund, the Federal 

Communications Commission could eliminate at least $1 million annually in fees paid to a private bank to 

manage investments.

Over the past two decades, telecommunications carriers and their 

customers have paid more than $100 billion to support the Universal 

Service Fund (USF). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 

uses USF to carry out the federal policy of universal service. Universal 

service is the principle that all Americans should have access to 

communications services. By statute, every telecommunications carrier 

providing interstate services must contribute to federal universal service 

unless exempted by FCC. Although not required to do so, carriers 

typically pass on the cost of USF fees as a separate line item to their 

customers’ phone bills. As of September 2017, USF’s net assets 

exceeded $7 billion.

In May 2017, GAO found several weaknesses in FCC’s management and 

oversight of USF. For example, FCC maintains USF funds outside of the 

U.S. Treasury in a private bank account. In February 2005, GAO reported 

that FCC should reconsider this arrangement given that USF consists of 

federal funds. Until FCC moves the USF funds, the funds may not have 

the same rigorous management practices and regulatory safeguards as 

funds for other federal programs. 

GAO also found in May 2017 that FCC had not provided guidance on 

whether various revenues that carriers derive from new technologies, 

such as text messaging revenues, require USF fees (also known as USF 

contributions). Without guidance on what technology revenues require 

these USF contributions, some carriers collect more USF fees from 

customers and pay more into the fund than other carriers for the same 

service, though USF fees are required by law to be paid on an equitable 

and nondiscriminatory basis. 

GAO recommended in May 2017 that the Chairman of FCC take action to 

ensure that preliminary plans to transfer USF funds from the private bank 

to the U.S. Treasury are finalized and implemented as quickly as 

possible. FCC agreed with this recommendation and implemented a 

formalized plan to move the USF funds to the U.S. Treasury by April 

2018. 

GAO also recommended that the Chairman of FCC take action to 

address requests for guidance concerning USF contribution requirements 

to ensure that USF fees are equitable. FCC agreed with this 

recommendation. In August 2017 the Chairman of FCC sent letters to 

members of Congress that reiterated FCC’s commitment to resolving this 

16. Fiscal Management of the Universal 

Service Fund

Potential Benefit

At least $1 million annually

Implementing Entity

Federal Communications Commission

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions to help 

address control weaknesses. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-538

Contact Information

Seto Bagdoyan at (202) 512-6722 or 

bagdoyans@gao.gov
Page 70 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

issue. GAO will continue to monitor FCC’s actions to ensure that this 

guidance is made available.

Moving the USF funds from a private bank to the U.S. Treasury could 

eliminate at least $1 million in annual fees paid to a private bank to 

manage investments. Regarding the USF contribution guidance, if FCC 

determines that some technology revenues, such as text messaging 

revenues, require USF fees, FCC could additionally increase collections 

for universal service programs by millions of dollars per year. Or 

conversely, if FCC determines these revenues are not subject to fees, 

USF contribution requirements typically passed through to customers 

could be reduced. 

Table 32 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to FCC for review and

comment. FCC officials had no comments on this report section.

Telecommunications: Additional Action Needed to Address Significant 

Risks in FCC’s Lifeline Program. GAO-17-538. Washington, D.C.: May 

30, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 71 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Department of Energy may be able to reduce certain risks and save tens of billions of dollars by 

adopting alternative approaches to treat a portion of its low-activity radioactive waste.

The Department of Energy (DOE) oversees the treatment and disposal of 

nearly 90 million gallons of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons 

production. Most of this waste is stored in tanks at DOE’s Hanford Site in 

Washington and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The less 

radioactive tank waste, called low-activity waste (LAW), makes up over 

90 percent of the waste’s volume, but less than 10 percent of the total 

radioactivity. DOE has treated about 4 million gallons of the Savannah 

River Site’s LAW with grout. Grout immobilizes waste in a concrete-like 

mixture. 

In contrast, DOE has yet to treat any of Hanford’s tank waste. DOE is 

planning to treat one-third to one-half of Hanford’s LAW with vitrification, 

which immobilizes the waste in glass. However, DOE has not determined 

how it will treat the remaining portion, known as supplemental LAW. 

According to a senior DOE official, if DOE must vitrify Hanford’s 

supplemental LAW, completing treatment will take until at least 2061. 

Much of the tank waste at the Hanford and Savannah River sites is 

managed as high-level (highly radioactive) mixed waste—waste with a 

hazardous chemical and a radioactive component—even though most of 

the waste at both sites is of comparatively low radioactivity. Under federal 

law, high-level mixed waste must be vitrified. Congress passed legislation 

in 2004 that specified procedures under which DOE can determine that 

certain tank waste, including the tank waste at the Savannah River Site, 

is not high-level waste, meaning that DOE could use methods other than 

vitrification. However, the legislation does not apply to Hanford. 

In May 2016, experts told GAO that both vitrification and grout could 

effectively treat Hanford’s LAW. Experts stated that scientific advances in 

grout since DOE’s 1994 decision to vitrify Hanford’s LAW have shown 

that grout performs as well, or nearly as well, as vitrification. Some also 

noted that using grout for supplemental LAW could help DOE complete its 

treatment mission sooner, reducing the risk of leaving waste in tanks. 

In May 2017, GAO found that the best available information indicates that 

DOE’s estimated costs to grout LAW at the Savannah River Site are 

substantially lower than its estimated costs to vitrify LAW at Hanford. 

Specifically, GAO found that DOE estimates that it will cost about $5.5 

billion to construct treatment facilities and treat the 36 million gallons of 

the Savannah River Site’s LAW with grout. Conversely, DOE documents 

and interviews with DOE officials indicate that it will cost about $53 billion 

to construct vitrification facilities and treat the Hanford Site’s 49 million 

gallons of LAW and supplemental LAW with vitrification. Table 33 in 

17. DOE’s Treatment of Hanford’s LowActivity Waste

Potential Benefit

Tens of billions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Department of Energy

Link to Actions

GAO identified one matter for 

Congress and two actions to evaluate 

alternate waste treatment options. See 

GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-306

Contact Information

David C. Trimble at (202) 512-3841 or 

trimbled@gao.gov or Timothy M. 

Persons at (202) 512-6412 or 

personst@gao.gov
Page 72 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

appendix VI compares best available cost information for treating LAW at 

the Savannah River and Hanford Sites. 

GAO suggested that Congress consider granting DOE authority to 

manage certain portions of Hanford’s tank waste as a waste type other 

than high-level waste. GAO also made two recommendations to DOE to 

develop updated information on the effectiveness and life-cycle costs of 

treating supplemental LAW with alternate methods. DOE agreed with 

both recommendations. As of February 2018, DOE has been continuing 

work on implementing both recommendations. 

Implementation of these recommendations may enable DOE to treat 

Hanford’s LAW with methods other than vitrification. This may address 

certain risks sooner and reduce significant life-cycle treatment costs. 

Based on the Savannah River Site’s experience of saving tens of billions 

of dollars by grouting its LAW rather than vitrifying it, DOE may also have 

an opportunity to save tens of billions of dollars at Hanford by 

reconsidering its waste treatment approach for a portion of its LAW.

Table 34 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOE for review and 

comment. DOE commented that there are differences in the waste 

composition and the way waste is regulated at the Hanford and Savannah 

River sites. These issues were discussed in the underlying report. DOE 

also provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as 

appropriate.

Nuclear Waste: Opportunities Exist to Reduce Risks and Costs by 

Evaluating Different Waste Treatment Approaches at Hanford.

GAO-17-306. Washington, D.C.: May 3, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 73 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Analyzing and using results from the Internal Revenue Service’s National Research Program employment tax 

study could help the agency identify and pursue millions of dollars annually in additional revenue owed.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) carries out detailed National 

Research Program (NRP) studies to measure different types of taxpayer 

compliance. From February 2010 to May 2016, IRS conducted an NRP 

study of employment tax returns filed from tax years 2008 through 2010—

IRS’s first effort in more than 30 years to measure employment tax 

reporting compliance. According to IRS guidance, the agency intends to 

factor NRP results into decisions about tax compliance and into its 

estimates of the tax gap. The tax gap is the difference between taxes 

owed and those voluntarily paid on time. This noncompliance identified in 

the tax gap estimates represents underreported taxes that employers are 

to withhold and remit to cover liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, and 

federal unemployment insurance. 

In fiscal year 2016, employers reported employment taxes totaling almost 

$2.28 trillion. However, given its resource limitations, IRS examines only 

a small fraction of the employment tax returns that employers file. For 

example, in fiscal year 2016, IRS examined about 0.2 percent of all 

employment tax returns filed in calendar year 2015. Because such a 

small percentage of employment returns are examined, IRS must ensure 

that the examinations are as efficient and effective as possible.

In April 2017, GAO found that although the examinations for IRS’s NRP 

employment tax study were completed by May 2016, IRS had not 

developed formal plans to analyze the study results to (1) identify areas of 

noncompliance, (2) address such noncompliance, and (3) update its 

employment tax gap estimate. IRS officials said they had not developed 

such formal plans due to competing research priorities and limited 

resources. They added that NRP data on the results had yet to be 

finalized. Analyzing the NRP employment tax study results would align 

with IRS’s strategic plan. The plan includes an objective to identify trends, 

detect high-risk areas of noncompliance, and prioritize enforcement 

approaches by applying research and advanced analytics.

GAO recommended that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue develop 

plans to analyze the NRP results, address areas of noncompliance 

identified in its analysis, and update its employment tax gap estimates. 

IRS agreed with GAO’s recommendations and indicated plans to address 

them by January 2020. While the NRP employment tax data will be 10-to12 years old by 2020, they will be much more recent than the previous 

data from 1984. Analyzing and using NRP employment tax study results 

could allow IRS to identify and pursue millions of dollars in additional 

taxes owed. Until IRS develops detailed plans to analyze and use the 

NRP results, IRS will be missing an opportunity to identify additional 

18. Employment Taxes

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars annually

Implementing Entity

Internal Revenue Service

Link to Actions

GAO identified three actions to improve 

IRS oversight of employment tax 

compliance. See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-371

Contact Information

Jessica Lucas-Judy at (202) 512-9110 

or LucasJudyJ@gao.gov
Page 74 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

potential noncompliance on employment tax returns, and identify 

solutions to address the noncompliance. In addition, unless IRS analyzes 

these data, its tax gap estimates will rely on outdated rather than updated 

information. 

Table 35 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and 

comment. IRS noted that for certain divisions, it has limited staff to 

perform analytical work on the NRP data to estimate the tax gap or 

predict noncompliance. IRS added that the sample sizes were small for 

certain types of taxpayers in the NRP employment tax study. This may 

limit the data’s usefulness. GAO recognizes IRS’s resource constraints, 

however still believes the data have value because they are more recent 

than data IRS currently relies on, and will allow better use of limited 

resources. GAO also received technical comments from IRS and 

incorporated them where appropriate.

Employment Taxes, Timely Use of National Research Program Results 

Would Help IRS Improve Compliance and Tax Gap Estimates. GAO-17-

371. Washington, D.C.: April 18, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 75 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Internal Revenue Service should fully assess the benefits and costs of using its existing authority to hold 

additional taxpayer refunds as well as extending the date for releasing those refunds until it can verify wage 

information on most returns later in the filing season, which could protect millions of dollars annually.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to confront the ongoing 

problems of fraud, including identity theft refund fraud, and taxpayer 

noncompliance. IRS estimates that at least $1.68 billion was paid in 

identity theft refund fraud in 2016. Further, IRS reported that, of $68 

billion in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments made in fiscal year 

2017, $16.2 billion were estimated to be improper. 

To help address these issues, consistent with GAO’s prior reporting, the 

Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the Act) advanced the 

deadline for employers to file Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (W-2) 

to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to January 31 (1 month earlier 

than previously if filing on paper, or 2 months earlier if filing 

electronically). The Act also required that IRS hold all refunds for 

taxpayers claiming EITC or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until 

February 15. These changes allowed IRS more time to receive W-2 data 

from SSA, match wage information to tax returns, and identify any 

discrepancies before issuing refunds. 

In January 2018, GAO found that IRS received over twice as many (over 

214 million) W-2s by February 15 compared to the same time in 2016, 

and reported that W-2 data were responsible for improving fraud 

detection and reducing taxpayer burden. However, several factors limited 

IRS’ success. Not all W-2 data were available in time for use in matching 

against returns being filed. Consequently, IRS was unable to verify over 

half of the returns it held until February 15 before issuing the refunds. IRS 

has authority to hold these and other refunds until it receives more W-2 

data, but IRS, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, 

decided not to exercise this authority because of concerns about strain on 

the economy, industry partners, taxpayers, and IRS telephone and other 

operations. 

IRS’s analyses of the February 15 refund hold showed that IRS could 

have detected significantly more in potential fraud and noncompliance if it 

adjusted the scope and timing of the refund hold. For example, IRS 

estimated that it could have protected $100 million in fraud and 

noncompliance had it held all taxpayer refunds until February 15—$35 

million more than it protected by holding refunds with EITC or ACTC. IRS 

further estimated that moving the refund hold to March 1 for all taxpayers 

could protect $895 million compared to $533 million if it only held refunds 

with EITC or ACTC until that date. 

However, GAO found limitations to IRS’s analyses. For example, while 

IRS has plans to further explore holding refunds longer, it does not have 

19. Tax Fraud and Noncompliance

Potential Benefit

Protect millions of dollars annually in 

fraudulent and noncompliant refunds

Implementing Entity

Internal Revenue Service

Link to Actions

GAO identified two actions for IRS to 

assess using its existing authority to 

modify the refund hold. See GAO’s 

Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-224

Contact Information

Jessica Lucas-Judy at (202) 512-9110 

or lucasjudyj@gao.gov
Page 76 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the refund hold on 

verifying wages. Also, IRS did not fully assess the benefits and costs, 

including taxpayer burden, of the refund hold, nor how its analysis informs 

its broader fraud risk management or compliance efforts. 

GAO recommended IRS (1) assess the benefits and costs of using 

existing authority to hold refunds longer, hold all refunds, or both; and (2) 

take actions based on the assessments. IRS did not state whether it 

agreed or disagreed with the recommendations, but listed steps to 

respond to them. For example, IRS stated it would assess and evaluate 

options for improvements to its refundable tax credits and fraud risk 

management strategies, and consider modifications based on the 

evaluation, but did not specify whether this evaluation would fully assess 

the benefits and costs, including taxpayer burden, of modifying the 

February 15 refund hold. By not assessing the costs and benefits of 

modifying the refund hold, IRS does not have sufficient information to 

inform a decision to change the refund hold date and those subjected to 

it.

Table 36 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information when available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and 

comment. IRS officials did not have additional comments on this report 

section.

Tax Fraud and Noncompliance: IRS Can Strengthen Pre-refund 

Verification and Explore More Uses. GAO-18-224. Washington. D.C.: 

January 30, 2018.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 77 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Internal Revenue Service could save money by 

strengthening controls over the Premium Tax Credit for health insurance, which cost about $35 billion for fiscal 

year 2017.

To help pay the cost of insurance premiums for taxpayers and their 

dependents, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) 

provides a premium tax credit (PTC) to individuals who meet certain 

income and other requirements. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services (CMS) oversees implementation of certain PPACA provisions 

related to the federally facilitated marketplace. This includes ensuring that 

individuals are eligible to receive health insurance coverage through the 

marketplace, and determining the amount of any advance PTC paid to 

insurers on behalf of individuals and in advance of filing tax returns. The 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is responsible for ensuring that 

individuals, employers, and issuers comply with certain PPACA health 

coverage and tax filing requirements. According to the Congressional 

Budget Office, the estimated cost of PTC under PPACA totals $605 billion 

for fiscal years 2018 through 2027.

In July 2017, GAO identified weaknesses in the design of control activities 

related to preventing and detecting improper payments for CMS's and 

IRS's PTC programs. At CMS, GAO found deficiencies in the design of 

key control activities related to eligibility requirements for advance PTC 

payments, and the accuracy of advance PTC calculations based on 

incomes and family sizes. At IRS, GAO found deficiencies in the design of 

control activities related to determining whether individuals 

• met the citizenship or lawful presence PTC eligibility requirement; 

• had access to or enrollment in health care coverage that met 

minimum essential coverage; and 

• were properly notified of the requirement to file if they did not file their 

tax returns. 

GAO made eight recommendations to CMS to improve control activities 

related to eligibility determinations and calculations of advance PTC 

based on incomes and family sizes. The Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) concurred with five of the recommendations. HHS 

neither agreed nor disagreed with three recommendations related to 

improving control activities for verifying identities of individuals, preventing 

duplicate coverage of individuals receiving minimum essential coverage 

through their employers, and verifying household incomes and family 

sizes. 

20. Premium Tax Credit Improper Payments

Potential Benefit

Cost savings associated with 

Premium Tax Credit spending

Implementing Entity

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services and the Internal Revenue 

Service

Link to Actions

GAO identified 11 actions to help 

improve control activities related to 

the Premium Tax Credit. See GAO’s 

Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-467

Contact Information

Beryl H. Davis at (202) 512-2623 or 

davisbh@gao.gov
Page 78 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

GAO also made three recommendations to IRS to improve control 

activities related to processing PTC information on tax returns. This 

includes recovering advance PTC made for individuals who do not meet 

the eligibility requirements for citizenship or lawful presence. IRS agreed 

with two recommendations and partially agreed with a third. 

Implementation of these recommendations could help CMS and IRS 

reasonably assure that they are achieving their payment integrity 

objectives for reducing improper payments. GAO could not estimate the 

amount of any cost savings resulting from these recommendations. 

However, their implementation could help reduce improper payments and 

thus the cost of PTCs paid on behalf of enrollees—about $35 billion in 

fiscal year 2017.

Table 37 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to HHS and IRS for review and 

comment. HHS said it did not have comments on this report section. IRS 

provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Improper Payments: Improvements Needed in CMS and IRS Controls 

over Health Insurance Premium Tax Credit. GAO-17-467. Washington, 

D.C.: July 13, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 79 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Department of Veterans Affairs could potentially save tens of millions of dollars when acquiring medical 

and surgical supplies by better adhering to supply chain practices of leading hospitals.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spends hundreds of millions of 

dollars annually on medical supplies, such as bandages and scalpels, for 

its 170 medical centers to meet the health care needs of about 7 million 

veterans. To support more efficient purchasing of these supplies, VA 

launched the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor-Next Generation (MSPVNG) program in December 2016. This was part of its overall effort to 

transform its supply chain and achieve $150 million in cost avoidance. 

This program represents a major change in how VA purchases medical 

supplies. VA's goals for the program include involving clinicians in 

creating product descriptions (requirements development), consolidating 

the supplies used across VA medical centers (standardization), 

leveraging its substantial buying power when making competitive awards, 

and improving supply chain efficiency.

The program also includes hundreds of new contracts with individual 

supply vendors and a new set of prime vendor contracts to distribute the 

supplies. In November 2017, GAO reported that VA's lack of an 

overarching strategy, stable leadership, and sufficient workforce to 

support MSPV-NG hampered implementation efforts throughout the 

organization. From the initial work in 2015 to develop requirements for 

commonly used medical supplies through the program's rollout to medical 

centers in December 2016, the program was not executed in line with 

supply chain practices of leading hospitals. Instead, VA developed 

requirements for a broad range of MSPV-NG items with limited clinical 

input, did not attempt to fully consolidate the products used across 

medical centers, and did not compete vendor agreements.

Although the agency is taking steps to address some of these 

deficiencies, MSPV-NG is not meeting medical centers' needs. Orders 

placed through the program were far below VA's target of 40 percent of 

medical supply spending as of May 2017. VA is also not meeting its 

projected amount of cost avoidance. Moreover, GAO found instances 

where VA purchased routine supplies on what it refers to as an 

emergency basis. This is less efficient—and ultimately more costly—than 

using the MSPV-NG program.

GAO recommended four actions for VA to improve MSPV-NG's 

implementation:

• develop, document, and communicate to stakeholders an overarching 

strategy for MSPV-NG; 

21. VA Medical Supplies Procurement

Potential Benefit

Tens of millions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Department of Veterans Affairs

Link to Actions

GAO identified four actions to improve 

VA’s implementation of the MSPV-NG 

program. See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-34

Contact Information

Shelby Oakley at 202-512-4841 or 

oakleys@gao.gov
Page 80 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

• provide complete guidance to medical centers for matching equivalent 

supply items; 

• use input from national clinical program offices to prioritize its 

requirements development and standardization efforts to focus on 

supply categories that offer the best opportunity for standardization 

and cost avoidance; and 

• analyze data on items that are frequently purchased on an emergency 

basis, determine whether such items are suitable to be added to the 

MSPV-NG's medical supply list, and work to make any suitable items 

available via MSPV-NG. 

VA concurred with the recommendations. It outlined a series of actions to 

implement all four recommendations by the end of 2018. Implementing 

these recommendations should help VA more efficiently and effectively 

procure medical and surgical supplies. GAO and VA estimated that these 

actions could potentially save tens of millions of dollars.

Table 38 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to VA for review and comment. 

In its response, VA outlined the steps it is taking to address three of 

GAO’s four recommendations and associated timelines for 

implementation, spanning through December 2018. For the other 

recommendation, VA stated that it has implemented a new approach to 

facilitate the matching of equivalent supply items and provided training to 

staff on its use in 2017. However, GAO has requested and is awaiting 

additional information from VA on details about this approach and its 

results.

Veterans Affairs Contracting: Improvements in Buying Medical and 

Surgical Supplies Could Yield Cost Savings and Efficiency. GAO-18-34. 

Washington, D.C.: November 9, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Page 81 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Federal Bureau of Prisons could improve the oversight and management of its health care costs to more 

efficiently and effectively acquire health care goods and services and potentially save millions of dollars 

annually.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) obligated more than $1.3 billion to 

provide inmates with health care during fiscal year 2016—an increase of 

about 37 percent since fiscal year 2009. These costs included medical, 

dental, and mental health treatment within BOP institutions; drug 

treatment programs; pharmaceuticals and medical supplies; and 

expenses for inmates to receive health care at local hospitals when BOP 

could not provide the necessary care in-house.

In June 2017, GAO reported that BOP lacks health care utilization data—

which would show how much the agency is spending on individual 

inmate’s health care, or how much it would be expending on a particular 

health care service. While BOP has explored and identified some 

potential solutions to collect the utilization data needed, it has not 

conducted a cost effectiveness analysis. OMB guidance (OMB Circular A94) calls for such an analysis to determine the most cost-effective way to 

collect such data. Utilization data are important for BOP to understand 

and control its health care costs. For example, BOP officials stated they 

need utilization data to pursue a regional comprehensive medical 

services contract instead of continuing to use the current practice of each 

institution entering into its own contract. Contractors need the data to 

develop their proposals. BOP officials said that a comprehensive contract 

could allow the agency to leverage its purchasing power and save 

millions of dollars annually.

GAO also found two other areas that could help BOP control health care 

costs and improve oversight of health care initiatives. Specifically, GAO 

found that BOP has not conducted a spend analysis—per its own agency 

guidance—to determine what its institutions are buying, from whom, and 

how much they spend. Such an analysis could help BOP acquire goods 

and services more strategically. Additionally, BOP has not assessed the 

effectiveness of its planned or ongoing initiatives to control health care 

costs. This kind of assessment is required by Standards for Internal 

Control in the Federal Government to ensure that activities achieve their 

objectives. 

In June 2017, GAO made three recommendations to BOP related to 

collecting inmate health care utilization data, controlling health care costs, 

and determining the effectiveness of ongoing or planned cost control 

initiatives. The recommendations called for BOP to (1) conduct a costeffectiveness analysis of potential solutions for collecting health care 

utilization data, and take steps toward implementation of the most 

effective solution; (2) conduct a spend analysis of health care spending 

22. Bureau of Prisons Health Care Costs

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars annually

Implementing Entity

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Link to Actions

GAO identified three actions for the 

Bureau of Prisons to improve the 

management of its health care costs. 

See GAO’s Action Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-17-379

Contact Information

Gretta L. Goodwin at (202) 512-8777 

or goodwing@gao.gov
Page 82 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

data; and (3) evaluate the extent to which its cost control initiatives 

achieve their aim. 

BOP concurred with the recommendations and, as of February 2018, had 

begun implementing them. For example, by September 2017, BOP had 

requested information to identify vendors capable of providing a data 

analytics solution to collecting and analyzing health care utilization data. 

BOP also included data analytics as a cost containment effort in its fiscal 

year 2019 budget documents.

Implementation of GAO’s recommendations could help BOP mitigate the 

increasing costs of providing health care to inmates and potentially save 

millions of dollars annually. However, the exact amount of savings is 

unknown because BOP health care cost data are limited. 

Table 39 in appendix VI lists federal programs or activities and budgetary 

information related to this issue area.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to BOP for review and 

comment. BOP officials said that they had no comments on this draft 

section.

Bureau of Prisons: Better Planning and Evaluation Needed to Understand 

and Control Rising Inmate Health Care Cost. GAO-17-379. Washington, 

D.C.: June 29, 2017.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO 

Products
Page 83 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

The Railroad Retirement Board could reduce overpayments by millions of dollars and better target resources 

by using more timely earnings data and reallocating resources used for high-risk continuing disability reviews 

to more effective efforts.

The Railroad Retirement Board (the Board)—an independent agency 

that, among other things, provides disability benefits to railroad workers—

paid $1.1 billion in disability benefits to about 31,000 beneficiaries in fiscal 

year 2016. To ensure that only eligible beneficiaries are paid, the Board 

conducts earnings continuing disability reviews (earnings reviews) to 

verify that individuals do not have earnings above program limits. The 

Board also conducts medical continuing disability reviews (medical 

reviews) to determine whether an individual’s medical condition has 

improved to the point where it is no longer considered disabling. In 

February 2018, GAO found issues with both types of these reviews.

Earnings reviews. GAO found that the Board does not use timely data 

for these reviews. Specifically, the Board uses annual earnings data from 

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that can be up to 2 years old, which 

delays the detection of ineligible beneficiaries. This delay increases the 

potential for lost federal dollars. For example, income earned in calendar 

year 2014 that is filed with the IRS in 2015 would not become available 

for earnings reviews until 2016. The delay may also cause undetected 

overpayments to accrue over several years. 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) also provides disability benefits 

to qualifying individuals. GAO found that SSA was able to identify 

beneficiaries with substantial excess earnings on average 1 year earlier 

using quarterly wage data from the Department of Health and Human 

Services National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) database instead of 

annual earnings data from IRS. GAO could not estimate the potential 

savings from using more timely earnings data because the Board does 

not track all costs or benefits of conducting continuing disability reviews. 

SSA’s experience suggests that the Board may similarly identify ineligible 

beneficiaries and overpayments earlier by using NDNH data. Even if this 

review resulted in termination of 1 percent of benefits due to ineligibility, 

this could potentially save millions of dollars. In February 2018, GAO 

suggested that Congress consider granting the Board access to quarterly 

earnings information from the NDNH database.

Medical reviews. In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, the Board conducted 

166 high-risk medical reviews on cases that it determined to be at high 

risk for fraud. However, these reviews did not identify any ineligible 

beneficiaries or overpayments. According to a senior Board official, the 

Board considers them to be potentially effective. However, these 

outcomes raise questions about the value and benefit of the Board 

dedicating resources to these particular reviews when they could be used 

23. Railroad Retirement Board Continuing 

Disability Reviews

Potential Benefit

Millions of dollars

Implementing Entity

Railroad Retirement Board

Link to Actions

GAO identified one matter for 

Congress and one recommendation 

for the Board that could help reduce 

overpayments. See GAO’s Action

Tracker.

Related GAO Product

GAO-18-287

Contact Information

Elizabeth Curda at (202) 512-7215 or 

curdae@gao.gov
Page 84 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

for other purposes that are more effective in identifying ineligible 

beneficiaries.

GAO recommended that the Board consider whether to reallocate 

resources used for high-risk reviews to other review efforts that produce 

more effective outcomes. The Board agreed and officials said the 

Disability Benefits Division plans to consider the effectiveness of 

continuing to use high-risk reviews to identify ineligible beneficiaries and 

potential fraud.

Table 40 in appendix VI lists federal programs or other activities related to 

this issue area, including budget information where available.

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Board for review and 

comment. The Board provided technical comments on this report section, 

which GAO incorporated.

Railroad Retirement Board: Actions Needed to Improve the Effectiveness 

and Oversight of Continuing Disability Reviews. GAO-18-287. 

Washington, D.C.: February 21, 2018.

Agency Comments 

and GAO’s Evaluation

Related GAO Product
Appendix IV: New Actions Added to Existing 

Areas

Page 85 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

We are adding seven new actions based on GAO reports that fall within 

the scope of six existing areas identified in prior annual reports.

Appendix IV: New Actions Added to Existing 

Areas
Page 86 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Crop Insurance

In July 2017, GAO identified a new action that Congress 

can take to reduce the cost of delivering the federal crop 

insurance program by hundreds of millions of dollars 

annually.

GAO product with new action: GAO-17-501

Updates on prior actions:

• One previous action regarding 

premium subsidies has not been 

addressed. 

• See the Action Tracker for more 

information.

The crop insurance program will cost the federal government an average of about $7.9 billion per year for 2017 through 2026, 

according to a Congressional Budget Office projection in January 2017. These costs include companies’ underwriting gains—

their profits on insurance policies—which averaged $1.1 billion per year for 2011 through 2016. In 2010, the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) negotiated with these companies on how much they can expect to profit from these insurance policies, but 

in July 2017, GAO found that this expected rate of return was at least 3.5 percentage points higher than market conditions 

would suggest it should be. 

New Action: Congress should consider repealing an Agricultural Act of 2014 requirement that any revision to the agreement 

between USDA and insurance companies not reduce companies’ expected underwriting gains, and directing the Risk 

Management Agency to, during the next renegotiation of the agreement, (1) adjust the participating insurance companies’ 

target rate of return to reflect market conditions and (2) assess the portion of premiums that participating insurance companies 

retain and, if warranted, adjust it.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: USDA had no comment on this matter for congressional consideration. 

Defense Virtual Training

In September 2017, GAO identified a new action to help 

the Marine Corps better manage fragmentation in its virtual 

training program.

GAO product with new action: GAO-17-789

Updates on prior actions:

• Two actions have been addressed.

• One action has been partially 

addressed.

• See GAO’s Action Tracker for more 

information.

GAO found that the Marine Corps’ process to manage the development and use of virtual training devices—which will cost 

about $425 million to purchase and sustain between fiscal years 2018 to 2022—is fragmented and has gaps. Specifically, the 

Marine Corps did not account for key factors in its front-end planning to support the devices’ acquisition, such as the specific 

training tasks the device is intended to address. Further, it also did not consider expected and actual usage data to support

investment decisions. Finally, it did not evaluate the devices’ effectiveness to accomplish operational training. Without 

guidance to address these gaps, the Marine Corps risks investing in and sustaining devices with undetermined value to 

operational training.

New Action: GAO recommended that the Secretary of Defense direct the Commandant of the Marine Corps to develop 

guidance for the development and use of virtual training devices that addresses these gaps.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: The Department of Defense (DOD) agreed with the recommendation and stated 

that it would review the Marine Corps’ efforts to address the recommendation within 12 months. GAO provided a draft of this 

report section to DOD for review and comment. DOD officials had no comments on this report section.
Page 87 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Navy Shipbuilding 

In March 2017, GAO identified a new action to help the Navy 

improve its use of incentives in shipbuilding. 

GAO product with new action: GAO-17-211

Updates on prior actions:

• Two actions have been partially 

addressed. 

• One action related to the use of 

ship warranties has not been 

addressed.

• See GAO’s Action Tracker for 

more information.

In the past 10 years, the Navy obligated $72 billion on shipbuilding contracts for detail design and construction. Over 80 

percent of the contracts were fixed-price incentive (FPI) firm target awards, which provide an incentive for the shipbuilder to 

control costs. GAO found hundreds of millions of dollars in additional incentives—such as award fees and milestone-based 

incentives—within selected FPI contracts. The Navy has not evaluated the effectiveness of the additional incentives in FPI 

contracts. Until the Navy does so, it will not know whether these incentives could be eliminated from use in future contracts to 

save the government from redundant or ineffective spending on them.

New Action: GAO recommended that the Navy should assess its use of additional incentives in FPI contracts across its 

shipbuilding programs. This assessment should include a mechanism to share proven incentive strategies for achieving 

intended cost, schedule, and quality outcomes among contracting and program office officials.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: The Navy agreed with GAO’s recommendation and confirmed in December 

2017 that the Center for Naval Analyses is studying the use of these incentives on FPI contracts. It plans to publish the results 

in mid-2018. GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Navy for review and comment. The Navy concurred with no 

comments.

Federal Vehicles

In April 2017, GAO identified two new actions to help the 

federal government better manage its fleet of retained 

vehicles. 

GAO product with new actions: GAO-17-426

Updates on prior actions:

• Three actions have been partially 

addressed. 

• See GAO’s Action Tracker for more 

information.

Federal agencies spent about $1.6 billion to purchase vehicles from fiscal years 2011 through 2015. GAO found that Customs 

and Border Protection (CBP) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not determine if 81 percent of its selected 

vehicles were utilized in fiscal year 2015. Similarly, GAO found that the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) did not assess whether 9 percent of its selected vehicles were utilized in fiscal year 

2015. Without this analysis, which these agencies are directed to perform under the policies of the relevant departments, 

agencies may be incurring expenses to retain vehicles that are not being used, including about $13.5 million in maintenance 

and depreciation costs in fiscal year 2015. 

New Action: GAO made two recommendations to facilitate the potential disposal of underutilized vehicles: (1) CBP should 

develop a plan for how it will improve its utilization assessment processes and (2) USDA should communicate its vehicle 

utilization policy to NRCS staff.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: DHS concurred with the recommendations. USDA did not agree or disagree 

with the recommendation but indicated it would address it. GAO provided a draft of this report section to those agencies for 

their review and comment. DHS and USDA did not provide any comments. 
Page 88 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Security of Federal Facilities 

In February 2017, GAO identified a new action to better 

manage fragmentation among federal agencies to address 

risks to federal courthouse security.

GAO product with new action: GAO-17-215

Updates on prior actions:

• Four actions have been partially 

addressed. 

• See GAO’s Action Tracker for 

more information.

The variety of civil and criminal cases tried in the 400-plus U.S. federal courthouses can pose security risks. Security 

responsibilities are shared by four agencies—the General Services Administration (GSA), U.S. Marshals Service, Federal 

Protective Service (FPS), and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC)—but they have had long-standing problems 

coordinating, as GAO found in 2011 and 2017. The agencies do not have a structure for comprehensively addressing 

courthouse security, which results in fragmentation.

New Action: GAO recommended in February 2017 that GSA—in conjunction with AOUSC, the U.S. Marshals Service, and 

FPS—establish a national-level working group or similar forum, consisting of leadership designees with decision-making 

authority, to meet regularly to address courthouse security issues.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: GSA agreed. The four agencies are taking steps to formalize the Inter-Agency 

Judicial Security Council, demonstrating significant progress in addressing GAO’s recommendation. Officials said they plan to

adopt a charter in the spring of 2018. GAO provided a draft of this report section to the agencies for review and comment. 

GSA, U.S. Marshals Service, FPS, and AOUSC officials had no comments on this report section.

Information Technology 

Investment Portfolio Management

In September 2016, GAO identified a new action to improve 

federal agencies’ efforts to complete software application 

inventories, which could further contribute to the billions of 

dollars of potential savings previously identified.

GAO product with new action: GAO-16-511

Updates on prior actions:

•Two actions have been 

addressed.

•Three actions have been partially 

addressed. 

• See GAO’s Action Tracker for 

more information.

The federal government spends more than $90 billion annually on information technology, including software applications, to 

enable business or mission functions. GAO reported that 20 of the 24 agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 

1990 did not have complete software application inventories. Each agency that lacks a complete inventory risks missing 

opportunities to identify duplicative, wasteful, and low-value applications and achieve potential cost savings. 

New Action: GAO recommended that the heads of 20 agencies—the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, 

Energy, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the 

Treasury, and Veterans Affairs (VA); and the Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration; National Science Foundation (NSF); Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Office of Personnel Management; 

Small Business Administration; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—

should direct their Chief Information Officers to improve their inventories by taking steps to fully address the practices GAO

identified as being partially met or not met.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: Fifteen agencies agreed with the recommendation and five stated they had no 

comment. As of March 2018, Agriculture, VA, and USAID had established a complete software application inventory, 16 

agencies reported making progress, and 1 agency—HHS—had not provided any update on the status of its efforts to address 

GAO’s recommendation. GAO sent this report section to the 20 agencies for comment. Six agencies—Education, Labor, 

State, VA, NSF, and USAID—provided comments, which were incorporated as appropriate. The 14 other agencies had no 

comments on this report section.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 89 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

In our 2011 to 2018 annual reports, we directed 100 actions to Congress, 

of which 58 remain open. Of the 58 open congressional actions, 11 are 

partially addressed and 47 are not addressed or new, as of March 2018. 

See table 15.

Table 15: Open Congressional Actions Related to Fragmentation, Overlap, Duplication, Cost Savings, or Revenue 

Enhancement, 2011-2018 

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

Agriculture 2013 Agricultural 

Quarantine 

Inspection Fees

(Area 18) 

Congress should consider taking steps to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to set 

fee rates to recover the full costs of the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program. 

Crop Insurance

(Area 19) 

Congress may wish to consider either limiting the amount of premium subsidies that 

an individual farmer can receive each year as it limits the amount of payments to 

individual farmers in many farm programs or reducing premium subsidy rates, or 

both limiting premium subsidies and reducing premium subsidy rates. Implementing 

this action could result in $1.4 billion annually in cost savings, according to GAO 

analysis.

Congress should consider repealing the 2014 farm bill requirement that any revision 

to the standard reinsurance agreement not reduce insurance companies’ expected 

underwriting gains, and directing the Risk Management Agency to, during the next 

renegotiation of the agreement, (1) adjust the participating insurance companies’ 

target rate of return to reflect market conditions and (2) assess the portion of 

premiums that participating insurance companies retain and, if warranted, adjust it. 

Implementing this action could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings 

annually, according to GAO analysis.

2011 Food Safety (Area 

1) 

Congress should consider commissioning the National Academy of Sciences or a 

blue ribbon panel to conduct a detailed analysis of alternative food safety 

organizational structures.

Congress should consider formalizing the Food Safety Working Group through 

statute to help ensure sustained leadership across food safety agencies over time.

Defense 2013 Joint Basing (Area 

20) 

Congress should consider directing the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, 

Installations, and Environment, in collaboration with the military services and joint 

bases, to evaluate the purpose of the program and determine whether the current 

goals, as stated in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission 

recommendation, are still appropriate, or whether goals should be revised; 

communicate these goals to the military services and joint bases, and adjust 

program activities accordingly; provide direction to the joint bases on requirements 

for meeting program goals, including determining reporting requirements and 

milestones; and determine any next steps for joint basing, including whether to 

expand it to other installations. 

2012 Stabilization, 

Reconstruction, 

and Humanitarian 

Assistance Efforts

(Area 6) 

Congress should consider amending the legislation that supports the Overseas 

Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid-funded humanitarian assistance program—the 

Department of Defense’s (DOD) largest humanitarian assistance program—to more 

specifically define DOD’s role in humanitarian assistance, taking into account the 

roles and similar types of efforts performed by the civilian agencies.

Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 90 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

Economic 

development

2016 Treasury’s 

Foreclosure 

Prevention Efforts 

(Area 17)

Congress should consider rescinding any excess Making Home Affordable (MHA) 

balances that the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) deobligates and does not 

move into the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing 

Markets (Hardest Hit Fund). Implementing the actions in this area could result in 

$4.8 billion in savings, according to GAO analysis.

The agency estimated $4.8 billion in potential excess funds, $2 billion of which 

Treasury deobligated in February 2016. As of March 1, 2018, Treasury had not 

deobiligated MHA funds beyond the $2 billion that it transferred to the Troubled 

Asset Relief Program-funded Hardest Hit Fund in February 2016. To the extent that 

Treasury identifies and deobligates any MHA funds that are likely to not be 

expended, these funds may then be available for Congress to rescind and use 

elsewhere for other priorities.

2011 Essential Air 

Service (Area 42) 

Congress may wish to consider revising the program’s operating requirements for 

providing air service to communities to improve efficiency and to better match 

capacity with community use.

This action is partially addressed. Congress has taken some action to address this 

action, such as revising the program’s operating requirements most recently in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. However, opportunities still exist to address 

this action, such as allowing flexibility in the number of flights provided.

Congress may wish to consider assessing multimodal solutions, such as more costeffective bus service to hub airports or air taxi service, to provide communities 

alternatives to Essential Air Service.

Energy 2018 DOE’s Treatment 

of Hanford’s Low 

Activity Waste 

(Area 17)

Congress should consider clarifying, in a manner that does not impair the regulatory 

authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Washington, 

Department of Energy’s (DOE) authority at Hanford to determine, in consultation 

with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whether portions of the supplemental lowactivity waste can be managed as a waste type other than high-level waste. 

Implementing this action could result in savings of tens of billions of dollars from 

2018 to 2061, according to GAO analysis.

2015 U.S Enrichment 

Corporation Fund

(Area 16) 

Congress may wish to permanently rescind the entire $1.6 billion balance of the U.S. 

Enrichment Corporation Fund. Implementing this action could result in savings of 

$1.6 billion, according to GAO analysis.

2014 Advanced 

Technology 

Vehicles 

Manufacturing 

Loan Program

(Area 13) 

Congress may wish to consider rescinding all or part of the remaining $4.3 billion in 

credit subsidy appropriations, unless the DOE can demonstrate a demand for new 

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loans and viable applications. 

Implementing this action could result in a one-time savings of up to $4.3 billion,

according to a DOE estimate. 

2011 Federal Fleet 

Energy Goals

(Area 12) 

Changes in existing laws could streamline the requirements and provide fleet 

managers with more flexibility in meeting goals.

Oil and Gas 

Resources (Area 

45) 

Congress may need to take action to require the Department of the Interior (Interior) 

to establish an annual production incentive fee or similar fee for nonproducing 

leases.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 91 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

Congress may wish to provide additional guidance or take additional actions to 

direct Interior to improve its oversight of federal lands and waters and the revenues 

derived from production of oil and gas if Interior chooses not to take any action on its 

study examining how other oil and gas resource owners select fiscal parameters for 

leasing and adjusting oil and gas royalty rates. Implementing the actions in this area 

could result in additional revenue of $1.7 billion, according to Interior estimates.

General 

government

2017 Use of the Do Not 

Pay Working 

System (Area 11)

Congress should consider amending the Social Security Act to explicitly allow the 

Social Security Administration to share its full death file with Treasury for use 

through the Do Not Pay working system.

As of March 2018, members of Congress have introduced the Stopping Improper 

Payments to Deceased People Act (HR.4929 and S.2374) that, if enacted into law, 

would address this issue. Sharing the full death file through the Do Not Pay working 

system would provide agencies with additional information and enhance efforts to 

identify and prevent improper payments to deceased individuals.

Recovery 

Operations Center 

Closure (Area 10)

Congress may wish to consider directing the Council of the Inspectors General for 

Integrity and Efficiency to develop a legislative proposal to reconstitute the essential 

capabilities of the Recovery Operations Center to help ensure federal spending 

accountability. 

2016 Financial 

Regulatory 

Structure (Area 5)

Congress should consider whether additional changes to the financial regulatory 

structure are needed to improve (1) the efficiency and effectiveness of oversight; (2) 

the consistency of consumer and investor protections; and (3) the consistency of 

financial oversight for similar institutions, products, risks, and services.

This action is partially addressed. As of March 2018, at least two bills, the Financial 

CHOICE Act of 2017 (H.R. 10) and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and 

Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) have been introduced in the 115th Congress that 

would change the financial regulatory structure, to some degree, to address 

fragmented and overlapping regulatory authorities, as GAO suggested in February 

2016. GAO will continue to monitor the reform efforts to determine the extent to 

which they could help to address fragmentation and overlap between the federal 

financial regulatory agencies and reduce opportunities for inefficiencies in the 

regulatory process and inconsistencies in how regulators conduct oversight activities 

over similar types of institutions, products, and risks. 

Congress should consider whether legislative changes are necessary to align the 

Financial Stability Oversight Council’s authorities with its mission to respond to 

systemic risks.

This action is partially addressed. As of March 2018, two bills were introduced, the 

Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (H.R. 10) and the Economic Growth, Regulatory 

Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), which may alter the FSOC’s 

authorities, but it is not clear to what extent the legislation would address GAO’s 

February 2016 suggestion. GAO will continue to monitor the reform efforts to 

determine the extent to which they help to align FSOC’s authorities with its mission 

to respond to systemic risks.

Identity Theft 

Refund Fraud 

(Area 22)

Congress should consider providing the Secretary of the Treasury with the 

regulatory authority to lower the threshold for electronic filing of W-2s from 250 

returns annually to between 5 to 10 returns, as appropriate. Implementing the 

actions in this area could result in savings of billions of dollars, according to GAO 

analysis. 
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 92 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

2015 Consumer Product 

Safety Oversight

(Area 4) 

Congress should consider transferring the oversight of the markings of toy and 

imitation firearms in section 5001 of title 15 of the U.S. Code from the Department of 

Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to the Consumer 

Product Safety Commission.

Congress should consider establishing a formal comprehensive oversight 

mechanism for consumer product safety agencies to address crosscutting issues as 

well as inefficiencies related to fragmentation and overlap such as communication 

and coordination challenges and jurisdictional questions between agencies. Different 

types of formal mechanisms could include, for example, creating a memorandum of 

understanding to formalize relationships and agreements or establishing a task force 

or interagency work group. As a starting point, Congress may wish to obtain agency 

input on options for establishing more formal coordination.

Tax Policies and 

Enforcement 

(Area 17)

Congress should consider revisiting the use of individual retirement accounts (IRA) 

to accumulate large balances and considering ways to improve the equity of the 

existing tax expenditure on IRAs. Options could include limits on (1) the types of 

assets permitted in IRAs, (2) the minimum valuation for an asset purchased in an 

IRA, or (3) the amount of assets that can be accumulated in IRAs and employersponsored plans that get preferential tax treatment.

Congress should consider expanding the mandate that partnerships and S 

corporations electronically file their tax returns in order to cover a greater share of 

filed returns. Implementing the actions in this area could potentially enable IRS to 

collect hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue, according to GAO 

analysis. 

2012 Internal Revenue 

Service 

Enforcement 

Efforts (Area 44) 

To help improve taxpayer compliance, Congress may wish to make owners of rental 

real estate subject to the same payment reporting requirements regardless of 

whether they engaged in a trade or business under current law.

To help improve taxpayer compliance, Congress may wish to require payers to 

report service payments to corporations, thereby reducing payers’ burden to 

determine which payments require reporting. Implementing the actions in this area 

could result in tax revenues of billions of dollars, according to GAO analysis of 

information from the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 93 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

2011 Simple Tax Return 

Errors (Area 56) 

Congress may want to consider granting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) broader 

math error authority, with appropriate safeguards against misuse of that authority, to 

correct errors during tax return processing.

This action is partially addressed. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 gave 

IRS additional math error authority, but limited to certain circumstances. Giving IRS 

broader math error authority with appropriate controls would enable IRS to correct 

obvious noncompliance, would be less intrusive and burdensome to taxpayers than 

audits, and would potentially help taxpayers who underclaim tax benefits to which 

they are entitled. 

If Congress decides to extend broader math error authority to IRS, controls may be 

needed to ensure that this authority is used properly such as requiring IRS to report 

on its use of math error authority. The administration also requested that Congress 

expand IRS’s math error authority as part of the Service’s Congressional Budget 

Justification and Annual Performance Report and Plan for fiscal year 2019. 

Specifically, the administration requested authority to correct a taxpayer’s return in 

the following circumstances: 1) the information provided by the taxpayer does not 

match the information contained in government databases; 2) the taxpayer has 

exceeded the lifetime limit for claiming a deduction or credit; or 3) the taxpayer has 

failed to include with his or her return certain documentation that is required by 

statute. As of March 2018, the Congress had not provided Treasury with such 

authority.

S Corporations

(Area 63) 

Congress could require S corporations to use information already available to them 

to calculate shareholders’ basis as completely as possible and report it to 

shareholders and the IRS. Implementing this action could result in savings of 

hundreds of millions of dollars, according to GAO analysis.

Research Tax 

Credit (Area 65) 

Congress could eliminate the regular credit and add a minimum base amount (equal 

to 50 percent of a taxpayer’s current spending) to the method for computing the 

alternative simplified credit.

New Markets Tax 

Credit (Area 66)

Congress should consider offering grants in lieu of credits to Community 

Development Entities if it extends the program again. If it does so, Congress should 

require Treasury to gather appropriate data to assess whether and to what extent 

the grant program increases the amount of federal subsidy provided to low-income 

community businesses compared to the New Markets Tax Credit; how costs for 

administering the program incurred by the Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund, Community Development Entities, and investors would change; 

and whether the grant program otherwise affects the success of efforts to assist lowincome communities. One option would be for Congress to set aside a portion of 

funds to be used as grants and a portion to be used as tax credit allocation authority 

under the current structure of the program to facilitate comparison of the two 

program structures.

Governmental 

Bonds (Area 67) 

Congress should consider whether facilities, including hotels and golf courses, that 

are privately used should be financed with tax-exempt governmental bonds. 

Implementing this action could result in savings of hundreds of millions of dollars, 

according to GAO analysis.

Health 2016 Medicare 

Payments by 

Place of Service 

(Area 30)

Congress should consider directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

equalize payment rates between settings for evaluation and management office 

visits and other services that the Secretary deems appropriate and return the 

associated savings to the Medicare program. Implementing this action could result in 

savings of billions of dollars annually, according to MedPAC and Bipartisan Policy 

Center estimates. 
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 94 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

2015 DOD US Family 

Health Plan (Area 

6)

Congress should terminate the Secretary of Defense’s authority to contract with the 

US Family Health Plan (USFHP) designated providers in a manner consistent with a 

reasonable transition of affected USFHP enrollees into TRICARE’s regional 

managed care program or other health care programs, as appropriate. Implementing 

this action could save millions of dollars from fiscal years 2019 to 2022, according 

to GAO analysis. 

Medicare 

Payments to 

Certain Cancer 

Hospitals (Area 

19)

Congress should consider requiring Medicare to pay these prospective payment 

system (PPS)-exempt cancer hospitals (PCH) as it pays PPS teaching hospitals, or 

provide the Secretary of HHS with the authority to otherwise modify how Medicare 

pays PCHs, and provide that all forgone outpatient payment adjustment amounts be 

returned to the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Implementing this 

action could result in savings of almost $500 million annually, according to GAO 

analysis. 

2014 Medicaid 

Demonstration 

Waivers (Area 21)

Congress could consider requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

improve the Medicaid demonstration review process, through steps such as 

improving the review criteria, better ensuring that valid methods are used to 

demonstrate budget neutrality, and documenting and making clear the basis for the 

approved limits. GAO had previously recommended that the Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS) take these actions. GAO elevated these actions for 

Congress to consider after HHS disagreed with the need to improve budget 

neutrality criteria, methods, and documentation of the basis for approved spending 

limits. Implementing the actions in this area could result in savings of billions of 

dollars, according to GAO analysis.

2013 Medicaid 

Supplemental 

Payments (Area 

26)

Congress should consider requiring the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve state reporting of non-Disproportionate Share 

Hospital (DSH) supplemental payments, including requiring annual reporting of 

payments made to individual facilities and other information that the agency 

determines is necessary to oversee non-DSH supplemental payments.

This action is partially addressed. In January 2017, a bill, H.R. 541, was introduced 

in the House of Representatives which, if enacted, would require annual state 

reporting of non-DSH supplemental payments made to individual facilities. However, 

as of March 2018, Congress has not enacted legislation to require such reporting. In 

addition, CMS has taken some action, including issuing a State Medicaid Director 

Letter requiring annual reporting of certain Medicaid supplemental payments and 

awarding a contract to review Medicaid supplemental payment information 

submitted by states.

Congress should consider requiring the CMS Administrator to clarify permissible 

methods of calculating non-DSH supplemental payments.

This action is partially addressed. In January 2017, a bill, H.R. 541, was introduced 

in the House of Representatives which, if enacted, would require CMS to issue 

guidance to states that identifies permissible methods for calculating non-DSH 

supplemental payments to providers. However, as of March 2018, Congress has not 

enacted legislation to require CMS to issue such guidance. In addition, CMS has 

taken some action, including issuing a State Medicaid Director Letter requiring 

states to submit non-DSH supplemental payment information and awarding a 

contract to review Medicaid supplemental payment information submitted by states.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 95 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

Congress should consider requiring the CMS Administrator to require states to 

submit an annual independent certified audit verifying state compliance with 

permissible methods for calculating non-DSH supplemental payments. Implementing 

these three actions could result in savings in the hundreds of millions of dollars, 

according to GAO analysis. 

2011 Medicare’s Health 

Care Payment 

(Area 74)

Congress could exempt from the budget neutrality requirement savings attributable 

to policies that reflect efficiencies occurring when services are furnished together.

This action is partially addressed. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 

revised the payment reduction for the professional component of multiple diagnostic 

imaging services from 25 percent to 5 percent beginning on January 1, 2017, and 

exempted the reduced expenditures attributable to this multiple procedure payment 

reduction (MPPR) from the budget neutrality provision. MPPRs or other policies that 

may result in a reduction to payments for the technical component for diagnostic 

cardiovascular and ophthalmology services continue to be subject to budget 

neutrality for 2016. Unless Congress exempts from the budget neutrality 

requirement savings realized from the implementation of all MPPRs or other policies 

that reflect efficiencies occurring when services are furnished together, these 

savings will not accrue to the Medicare program.

Homeland 

security/law 

enforcement

2012 Homeland 

Security Grants 

(Area 17)

Congress may want to consider requiring the Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) to report on the results of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 

(FEMA) efforts to identify and prevent unnecessary duplication within and across its 

preparedness grant programs, and consider these results when making future 

funding decisions for these programs.

Once FEMA has completed its assessment, Congress may wish to consider limiting 

the use of federal preparedness grant programs to fund only projects to fill identified, 

validated, and documented capability gaps that may (or may not) include 

maintaining existing capabilities developed.

Immigration 

Inspection Fee 

(Area 49)

Congress may wish to require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) to adjust the air passenger immigration inspection fee as needed so 

that collections are aligned with total inspection costs, if it is determined that total 

immigration fee collections do not cover total immigration inspection costs. 

Implementing this action could increase annual fee revenue by tens of millions of 

dollars, according to GAO analysis of fiscal year 2012 data.

This action is partially addressed. As of March 2018, Congress had not enacted 

legislation, as GAO suggested in February 2012, to adjust the air passenger 

immigration fee. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have identified the extent to which collections 

are aligned with total immigration inspection costs. 

Congress may wish to require the Secretary of DHS to direct U.S. Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to establish a regular 

schedule to review and coordinate on the costs of their respective air passenger 

immigration inspection activities, and revise the proportion of the fee received by 

each agency accordingly.

Income 

security

2018 Railroad 

Retirement Board 

Continuing 

Disability Reviews 

(Area 23) 

Congress should consider granting the Board access to the HHS’s quarterly 

earnings information from the National Directory of New Hires database. 

Implementing this action could result in savings of millions of dollars annually, 

according to GAO analysis.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 96 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

2014 Disability and 

Unemployment 

Benefits (Area 8)

Congress should consider passing legislation to require the SSA to offset Disability 

Insurance benefits for any Unemployment Insurance benefits received in the same 

period. Implementing this action could save about $2.5 billion dollars over 10 

years, according to an OMB estimate. 

Federal 

Employees’ 

Compensation 

and 

Unemployment 

Benefits (Area 9)

Congress should consider granting the Department of Labor (DOL) the additional 

authority to access wage data to help verify claimants’ reported income and help 

ensure the proper payment of benefits.

Veterans’ and 

Survivors’ Benefits 

(Area 23)

Congress should consider passing legislation that would establish a look-back and 

penalty period for claimants who transfer assets for less than fair market value prior 

to applying for pension benefits. Implementing this action could save about $4 

million annually, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

This action is partially addressed. As of March 2018, there has been no legislative 

action taken in the current Congress. In the 113th Congress, the House of 

Representatives passed H.R. 2189, which contained language to establish a 3-year 

look-back and penalty period for the VA pension program. However, the bill was not 

ultimately enacted. Additionally, in January 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) proposed regulations establishing a look-back and penalty period for the VA 

pension program. In February 2018, VA officials told GAO the regulations were 

undergoing legal review as part of the final concurrence process. 

2011 Social Security 

Offsets (Area 80)

Congress could consider giving the IRS the authority to collect the information that 

the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs on government pension income to 

administer the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision 

accurately and fairly. Implementing this action could result in savings between $2.4 

billion to $7.9 billion over 10 years, if enforced both retrospectively and 

prospectively, based on estimates from the CBO and SSA. 

Information 

technology

2014 Interoperable 

Radio 

Communications 

Systems (Area 10)

Congress should consider requiring DHS, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and 

Treasury to collaborate on the development and implementation of a joint radio 

communications solution that specifically requires the departments to establish an 

effective governance structure that includes a formal process for making decisions 

and resolving disputes, define and articulate a common outcome for this joint effort, 

and develop a joint strategy for improving radio communications.

This action is partially addressed. Legislation has been enacted to provide funding 

for, among other things, the development of a nationwide, interoperable broadband 

network that is aimed at improving interoperable radio communications among 

public safety officials. However, the use of the broadband network by public safety 

users will be voluntary. In addition, DHS, DOJ, and Treasury officials indicated that 

once mission-critical voice capabilities have been developed for the broadband 

network, they will determine whether they will use the network for that purpose. 

Therefore, until the three departments make a decision to use the nationwide public 

safety broadband network to support mission critical voice capabilities, it is uncertain 

if the legislation will address these agencies’ fragmented approaches to improving 

interoperable radio communications. As of March 2018, there has been no 

legislative action taken in the current Congress.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 97 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

2013 Dissemination of 

Technical 

Research Reports 

(Area 10)

Congress should consider examining the appropriateness and viability of the feebased model under which the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) 

currently operates for disseminating technical information to determine whether the 

use of this model should be continued.

This action is partially addressed. As of March 2018, there has been no legislative 

action taken in the current Congress. Several bills were introduced during the 115th 

Congress, including H.R. 3354, S.1662, that had the potential to address this action. 

However, these bills were not ultimately enacted. Additionally, the Department of 

Commerce Appropriations Act, 2015, 2016, and 2017, limited instances where NTIS 

could charge customers fees for reports. This limitation continues in effect under the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.

Geospatial 

Investments (Area 

11)

Congress should consider assessing the impact of the disclosure restrictions of 

Section 9 of Title 13 and Section 412 of Title 39 of the U.S. Code in moving toward a 

national geospatial address database. If warranted, Congress should consider 

revising those statutes to authorize the limited release of addresses, without any 

personally identifiable information, specifically for geospatial purposes. Such a 

change, if deemed appropriate, could potentially result in significant savings across 

federal, state, and local governments. Implementing the actions in this area could 

result in savings of millions of dollars, according to GAO analysis.

International 

affairs

2016 Cargo Preference 

for Food Aid (Area 

36) 

While recognizing that cargo preference serves policy goals established by 

Congress with respect to the U.S. merchant marine, including maintenance of a fleet 

capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national 

emergency, Congress should consider clarifying cargo preference legislation 

regarding the definition of “geographic area” to ensure that agencies can fully utilize 

the flexibility Congress granted to them when it lowered the cargo preference for 

food aid requirement. Implementing this action could potentially result in millions of 

dollars in savings, according to GAO analysis. 

2013 Tobacco Taxes 

(Area 31)

Congress, as it continues oversight of the Children’s Health Insurance Program 

Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), may wish to consider equalizing tax rates on rollyour-own and pipe tobacco.

Congress, as it continues oversight of CHIPRA, may wish to consider, in 

consultation with Treasury options for reducing tax avoidance due to tax differentials 

between small and large cigars. Federal revenue losses were as much as $2.6 to 

$3.7 billion between April 2009 and February 2014, and Congressional action could 

address future revenue losses.

2012 Overseas 

Administrative 

Services (Area 20)

Congress may wish to consider requiring agencies to participate in International 

Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS) unless they provide a 

business case to show that they can obtain these services outside of ICASS without 

increasing overall costs to the U.S. government or that their mission cannot be 

achieved within ICASS.

2011 Antidumping and 

Countervailing 

Duties (Area 81)

Congress could eliminate the retrospective component of the U.S. antidumping and 

countervailing duty system and, instead, treat the antidumping and countervailing 

duties assessed at the time the product enters the country as final.
Appendix V: Open Congressional Actions, by 

Mission

Page 98 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Mission 

Annual 

report Area Action summary

Social services 2012 Housing 

Assistance (Area 

28)

Congress may wish to consider requiring the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) 

and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to examine the benefits and costs of 

merging those programs that serve similar markets and provide similar products. As 

a first step, Congress could consider requiring USDA and HUD to explore merging 

their single-family insured lending programs and multifamily portfolio management 

programs, taking advantage of the best practices of each and ensuring that targeted 

populations are not adversely affected.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Notes: Unless otherwise indicated, actions in this table are not addressed, meaning that a bill may 

have been introduced but did not pass out of a committee, or no relevant legislation has been 

introduced. At the beginning of a new congressional session, we reapply the criteria. As a result, the 

status of an action may move from partially addressed to not addressed if relevant legislation is not 

reintroduced from the prior Congressional session.

As of March 2018, eleven actions are partially addressed. Partially addressed means a relevant bill 

has passed a committee, the House of Representatives, or the Senate, or relevant legislation has 

been enacted but only addressed part of the action needed. This table provides information on steps 

Congress took for actions that are considered partially addressed.

This table provides estimates of cost savings or increased revenue where such information was 

available. The potential cost savings for implementing individual actions are provided when known, or 

for implementing multiple actions in an area, when the savings are not attributable to a specific action.
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 99 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

This appendix provides additional information on the federal programs or 

other activities related to the new areas of fragmentation, overlap, 

duplication, cost savings, and revenue enhancement discussed in this 

report, including budgetary information when available. “Programs” may 

include grants, initiatives, centers, loans, and other types of assistance or 

projects. This information can provide useful context for the issues we 

identified, but limitations should be noted. It is not always possible to 

report budgetary information at the specific program or activity level 

because agency budgets are not organized by programs, but rather by 

appropriations accounts. In those instances, we reported the most reliable 

available data for the most recent fiscal year or did not report budgetary 

information. Further, because this report discusses various programs or 

activities, each table may report different types of budgetary information, 

such as obligations, collections, or outlays. Because of these limitations, 

the budgetary information reported in this appendix cannot be totaled and 

does not represent potential cost savings for all programs.

Table 16: Area 1 Imported Seafood Oversight: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Food and Drug Administration Foods The purpose of the Foods Program is to, in part, protect and 

promote human health by ensuring the safety of the American 

food supply, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, as well as 

the proper labeling of food and cosmetics. This includes 

ensuring the safety of imported seafood.

Food Safety and Inspection 

Service

Food Safety The purpose of the Food Safety program is to ensure that the 

nation’s commercial supply of meat, including Siluriformes fish 

and products (catfish), poultry, and egg products, is safe, 

wholesome, and properly labeled and packaged. This includes 

ensuring the safety of imported catfish.

Source: GAO analysis of Food and Drug Administration and Food Safety and Inspection Service budget information. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 17: Area 2 Defense Distribution Centers: Related Program Information

Agency Activity name Description

Department of Defense/ Defense 

Logistics Agency (DLA) 

Distribution Services DLA has a network of 17 distribution centers in the United 

States that it uses to provide commodities (e.g., troop support 

items such as clothing, medicine, food, and consumable repair 

parts for weapon systems) and distribution services (e.g., the 

processing and storing of inventory) to support U.S. military 

forces.

Source: GAO analysis of DLA information. | GAO-18-371SP

Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 100 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 18: Area 3 GPS Modernization: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Department of Defense (DOD) DOD Global Positioning System

(GPS) Modernization for Weapon 

Systems 

DOD is upgrading GPS receivers currently being developed 

to provide a stronger, encrypted, military-specific signal to 

meet military positioning, navigation, and timing needs and 

address known threats to the current system, such as signal 

jamming.

Source: GAO analysis of DOD information. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 19: Area 4 Federal Use of Identity Theft Services: Related Program Information and Contract Obligations 

Agency Program description

Estimated contract 

obligations as of 

October 2017

Office of Personnel Management

(OPM)

OPM is providing complimentary identity theft services through 

December 18, 2025, to individuals affected by two 2015 data breaches 

that occurred at the agency—one of federal personnel records and 

one of background investigations of current, former, and prospective 

federal employees.

$248 milliona

Source: GAO analysis of the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: While the OPM’s obligations for identity theft services are believed to be the largest, other 

federal agencies have also obligated funds for such services.

a

Amount represents obligations related to identity theft services for both of the 2015 breaches, with 

the first obligation made in June 2015.

Table 20: Area 5 Graduate Medical Education Funding: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017 

obligations

(in millions of dollars)

Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS)

Medicare Graduate 

Medical Education (GME)

Payments

Medicare pays for GME training through two 

mechanisms—direct GME payments and indirect 

medical education payments—both of which are 

formula-based payments set by statute. These 

payments are made to reflect Medicare’s share of 

the hospitals’ costs associated with providing 

GME training.

Not availablea

CMS Medicaid GME Payments While there is no federal requirement for state 

Medicaid programs to fund GME training, some 

states have elected to do so, and these expenses 

are shared by the federal government through 

federal matching funds. Some states make lump 

sum supplemental GME payments to eligible 

providers, while other states make GME 

payments through add-on adjustments to the 

state’s Medicaid payment rates to eligible 

providers.

Not availableb
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 101 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017 

obligations

(in millions of dollars)

Health Resources and 

Services Administration 

(HRSA)

Children’s Hospital GME 

Payment Program

This program was created in 1999 and 

reauthorized through fiscal year 2018 to support 

pediatric and pediatric subspecialty GME training 

in freestanding children’s hospitals. 

$299

HRSA Teaching Health Center 

GME Payment Program

This program was established in 2010 and 

reauthorized through fiscal year 2017 to increase 

the number of primary care residents who trained 

in community-based, ambulatory patient care 

settings. 

55c

Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA)

VA GME Program GME training is a statutory requirement of VA to 

enhance the nationwide supply of health care 

professionals. This training helps VA recruit and 

retain staff at its medical facilities. Nearly all of 

VA’s GME training is conducted through 

academic affiliations with medical schools and 

teaching hospitals where residents from those 

institutions do clinical rotations at VA medical 

facilities. 

1,877d

Source: GAO analysis of Departments of Health and Human Services and VA data. | GAO-18-371SP

a

Medicare direct GME payments and indirect medical education payments are reported annually on 

hospitals’ Medicare Cost Reports. CMS officials told GAO that it takes about 3 years to ensure the 

data reported provide a fair representation of payments. Using 2015 Medicare Cost Report data—the 

most recent, reliable data on the amount of Medicare GME payments at the time of GAO’s analysis—

Medicare GME payments totaled $10.34 billion. The period represented by a hospital’s 2015 

Medicare Cost Report generally represents its fiscal year, which can vary by hospital.

b

Comprehensive data on Medicaid GME spending are not available from CMS. While state Medicaid 

agencies report to CMS the aggregate amount of Medicaid supplemental payments for GME training, 

there are no federal requirements that states or teaching institutions report information about the 

amount of other payments for GME training, such as payments made through add-on adjustments to 

the state’s Medicaid payment rates. Instead, GAO collected data on the amount of 2015 Medicaid 

GME spending using a survey of state Medicaid agencies in 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

All agencies responded to the survey. GAO found that CMS spent $2.35 billion on Medicaid GME 

payments in 2015, which was matched by an additional $1.83 billion that Medicaid agencies in 45 

states spent. Although all states responded to the survey, one state that made Medicaid GME 

payments did not provide any data on the total amount of payments and four states provided data on 

some but not all GME payments. In addition, state Medicaid agencies varied in the period for which 

data were provided. Most states (39) provided data by state fiscal year 2015, which varied by state, 

while four states provided data for calendar year 2015 and 2 states provided data for federal fiscal 

year 2015.

c

The Department of Health and Human Services transferred $4.5 million from the Prevention and 

Public Health Fund into this account in fiscal year 2017.

d

The fiscal year 2017 obligation amount for the VA GME program includes both payments to VA 

academic affiliates ($679 million) and the direct and indirect cost of hosting GME activities ($1.03

billion). Payments to VA academic affiliates cover the salary and benefits of physician residents who 

rotate to a VA medical center. The direct cost of hosting GME activities primarily consists of physician 

labor costs (including trainee supervision and education preparation and presentation). Indirect costs 

include facility overhead, which contains utilities, maintenance, supplies and staffing attributable to 

the GME program. These costs are not directly comparable to the Veterans Equitable Resource 

Allocation model indirect education support supplement payments ($731 million) which are allocated 

to VA medical centers based on the number of trainees in the local GME program.
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 102 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 21: Area 6 VA Human Capital Challenges: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description Fiscal year 2017 obligations

Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA)

Veterans Health 

Administration (VHA) 

VHA operates one of the largest 

health care systems in the nation, with 

a mission of providing high-quality 

medical care to veterans. As of fiscal 

year 2017, VA was operating an 

expansive system of health care 

facilities with about 317,000 

employees and 18 Veterans 

Integrated Service Networks 

overseeing 170 medical centers and 

more than 1,000 outpatient facilities. 

$68.53 billion 

Source: GAO analysis of VA data. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 22: Area 7 Operating Funds of Selected Boat Stations Recommended for Closure Fiscal Year 2015 Estimated

Agency Station (district) Estimated fiscal year 2015 annual 

operating cost

U.S. Coast Guard Ashtabula, OH (9) $1,031,917

Frankfort, MI (9) $882,816

Harbor Beach, MI (9) $866,247

Kenosha, WI (9) $1,815,684

Lorain, OH (9) $2,417,118

Ludington, MI (9) $910,493

Oxford, MD (5) $1,068,894

Beach Haven, NJ Seasonal Station (5) $1,823,748a

Fortesque, NJ Seasonal Station (5) a

Shark River, NJ Seasonal Station (5) a

Roosevelt Inlet, DE Seasonal Station (5) a

Wrightsville Beach, NCb (5) $1,577,217

Ocracoke, NC Seasonal Station (5) c

Jones Beach, NY (1) $2,316,669

Merrimack River, MAd (1) $2,094,330

Scituate, MA Seasonal Station (1) $407,891e

Block Island, RI Seasonal Station (1) $963,002f

Fishers Island Seasonal Station, NY (1) f

Source: GAO analysis of Coast Guard data. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: According to the Coast Guard, station operating cost savings would not be equal to total cost 

savings as some personnel, boats, and equipment would need to be relocated to adjacent stations to 

address any workload increase they may experience. The Coast Guard is not appropriated by 

mission or program, but rather by congressionally established appropriations. This appropriation 

structure supports multimission requirements by allowing the Coast Guard to shift resources across 

missions in order to meet demand and manage risk. The total includes operating funds associated 
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 103 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

with each multimission Coast Guard boat station. These figures do not include costs associated with 

depot maintenance, facilities support, or the Coast Guard’s layered command and control structure.

a

A 2013 station optimization study grouped the closure of these stations together and attributed total 

cost savings for the four stations. The cost per station is a fraction of $1,823,748. Coast Guard could 

not provide annual station costs for some seasonally-operated stations.

b

District 5 input identified unique conditions at Wrightsville Beach to keep that station open. As an 

alternative, district officials identified Seasonal Station Ocracoke as a closure candidate without a 

reduction in the Coast Guard’s ability to meet the Search and Rescue standard. The standard calls 

for Coast Guard stations to plan to arrive on the scene of Search and Rescue distress cases within 

their area of responsibility within 2 hours (including up to 30 minutes of preparation prior to launch).

c

We estimated annual operating costs based on combining two sources because the Coast Guard 

could not provide details for some stations that operate seasonally and where operating costs are 

combined with nearby stations. We were unable to obtain station operating costs for some stations.

d

District 1 identified this station as having a unique and irreplaceable capability that adjacent stations 

did not have—surf boat response––and thus it was important to keep it open.

e

A 2013 station optimization study grouped the closure of this station with another station and 

attributed total cost savings for the two stations. We estimated an annual operating cost of around 

$407,891 for this station by combining information from two Coast Guard sources.

f

A 2013 station optimization study grouped the closure of these stations together and attributed total 

cost savings for the two stations. The cost per station is a fraction of $963,002. The Coast Guard 

could not provide annual station costs for some seasonally operated stations.

Table 23: Area 7 Coast Guard Boat Stations: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description Fiscal year 2015 obligations

U.S. Coast Guard Boat station The Coast Guard operates about 190 multimission 

boat stations that carry out various missions, such 

as search and rescue and marine environmental 

protection. 

$349 million

Source: GAO analysis of Coast Guard data. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: The Coast Guard is not appropriated by mission or program, but rather by congressionally 

established appropriations. According to the Coast Guard, this appropriation structure supports 

multimission requirements by allowing the Coast Guard to shift resources across missions in order to 

meet demand and manage risk. The total includes operating funds associated with each multimission 

Coast Guard boat station. These figures do not include costs associated with depot maintenance, 

facilities support, or the Coast Guard’s layered command and control structure. The Coast Guard’s 

latest analysis available on these boat stations is from fiscal year 2015.

Table 24: Area 8 National Institute of Standards and Technology Security Program Management: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Department of Commerce Physical Security Program 

Personnel Management

Physical security personnel management includes oversight of 

law-enforcement services, contract-guard services, and 

personnel security, which includes suitability, screening, and 

security clearances for employees, foreign nationals, and 

contractors. 

National Institute of Standards 

and Technology

Physical Security Program 

Infrastructure Management

Physical security program infrastructure management includes 

oversight of security systems, access control technology, 

perimeter security infrastructure, lock management, key 

management, and badging. 

Source: GAO analysis of the Department of Commerce and National Institute of Standards and Technology information. | GAO-18-371SP
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 104 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 25: Area 9 Reviews of SSA Disability Appeals: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Social Security Administration 

(SSA), Office of Appellate 

Operations (OAO), Appeals 

Council, Disability Branches

Requests for reviewa Review of decisions appealed by claimants. Conducted 

continuously.

SSA, Office of the Chief 

Administrative Law Judge

Regional inline reviews Review of a random sample of cases in various stages of 

preparation, including “ready for a hearing” and “draft 

decision.” Conducted continuously.

SSA, Office of Quality Review Disability case reviews Review of a nationally representative sample of decisions. 

Conducted annually.

SSA, OAO, Appeals Council, 

Division of Quality

Focused quality reviews Review of specific subjects, including but not limited to hearing 

offices, individual judges, subject matters, policies, or 

procedures. Conducted bimonthly (approximately).

SSA, OAO, Appeals Council, 

Division of Quality

Random pre-effectuation reviews Review of a random sample of favorable hearing decisions 

before they are issued. Conducted continuously.

SSA, OAO, Appeals Council, 

Division of Quality

Selective pre-effectuation 

reviews 

Review of a random sample of cases with a common 

characteristic that increases the likelihood of error, conducted 

before the decision is issued. Conducted annually.

Source: GAO analysis of agency documents. | GAO-18-371SP

a

SSA officials noted that requests for review are not primarily for quality assurance as these are 

claimant-requested reviews the Appeals Council performs as the final level of administrative review 

within SSA. SSA uses the results of these reviews to provide feedback and guidance to judges. SSA 

also measures the quality of a judge’s decisions through this ongoing review of appealed cases. This 

review results in the agree rate, which reflects the percentage of cases in which the Appeals Council 

concluded that the Administrative Law Judge’s decisions were supported by substantial evidence and 

contained no error of law or abuse of discretion.

Table 26: Area 10 Supplemental Security Income: Related Program and Payment Data

Agency Program name Program description

December 2017 participant 

and payment data

Social Security Administration 

(SSA)

Supplemental Security Income 

(SSI)

Monthly payments to people 

who have low incomes, few 

resources, and are either age 

65 or older, blind, or disabled.

In December 2017, SSA made 

SSI payments to 8.23 million 

recipients including 1.2 million 

recipients under age 18. Total 

payments in that month were 

$4.75 billion, including $811

million to recipients under age 

18.

Source: GAO analysis of SSA Monthly Statistical Snapshot. | GAO-18-371SP
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 105 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 27: Area 11 Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Interagency effort Selected agencies involved Fiscal year 2017 

appropriations 

Combating wildlife trafficking Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, 

and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of Interior

$91 million

Source: GAO analysis of annual appropriations act for fiscal year 2017. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 28: Area 12 High-Containment Laboratories: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017 

spending (dollars in 

millions)

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC)

Federal Select Agent 

Program

This program is jointly composed of 

CDC’s Division of Select Agents and 

Toxins and the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service’s (APHIS) 

Agriculture Select Agent Services. The 

Federal Select Agent Program oversees 

the possession, use, and transfer of 

biological select agents and toxins, 

which have the potential to pose a 

severe threat to public, animal, or plant 

health or to animal or plant products.

$19.89

Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS)

Federal Select Agent 

Program

The Federal Select Agent Program is 

jointly composed of CDC’s Division of 

Select Agents and Toxins and APHIS’s 

Agriculture Select Agent Services. The 

Federal Select Agent Program oversees 

the possession, use, and transfer of 

biological select agents and toxins, 

which have the potential to pose a 

severe threat to public, animal, or plant 

health, or to animal or plant products.

7.79

Source: CDC and APHIS responses to GAO questions. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: CDC reported that the final funding allocations for its component of the Federal Select Agent 

Program were $19,890,100 in fiscal year 2017. APHIS reported that it obligated $7,787,865 on select 

agent activities in fiscal year 2017.
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 106 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 29: Area 13 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Programs: Related Program and 

Budgetary Information

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Minority University Research and Education Project 31,995,826

National Space Grant College and Fellowship Project 39,999,988

STEM Education and Accountability Project 24,844,939

National Science 

Foundation

Advanced Technological Education 66,040,000

Advancing Informal STEM Learning 62,500,000

Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate 8,000,000

Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM 2,670,000

CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service 49,980,000

Discovery Research PreK-12 84,300,000

East Asia & Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students 1,380,000

Education and Human Resources Core Research 67,570,000

Graduate Research Fellowship Program 332,340,000

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program 35,010,000

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education 104,770,000

Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented 

Discoverers in Engineering and Science 

13,970,000

International Research Experiences for Students 5,930,000

Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation 46,010,000

National Science Foundation Research Traineeship 55,980,000

Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering and Computer Science 6,140,000

Research Experiences for Undergraduates 97,720,000

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program 64,500,000

STEM + Computing Partnerships 64,370,000

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program 14,010,000

Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission

Integrated University Program 15,102,000

Minority Serving Institutions Program 1,008,285

Department of Agriculture

Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection 

Service

AgDiscovery Program 907,034

1890 National Scholars Program 0a

National Institute of 

Food and Agriculture 

1890 Institution Teaching, Research and Extension Capacity Building Grants 

Program

17,457,425
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 107 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Education and Literacy Initiative 

Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduate Fellowships

4,101,236

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Education and Literacy Initiative 

Professional Development for Secondary School Teacher and Education 

Professionals

2,000,000

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Fellowships (Predoctoral and 

Postdoctoral)b 11,417,025

Agriculture in the Classroom 398,028

Distance Education Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in 

Insular Areas

800,000

Higher Education Challenge Grants Program 4,378,970

Hispanic Education Partnership Grants 8,840,842

Multicultural Scholars 936,873

National Needs Fellowships 336,203

Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education and Agriculture in 

the K-12 Classroom Grants

852,300

Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in 

Insular Areas

1,000,000

Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 

Fields Grant Programb 382,650

Department of Commerce

National Institute of 

Standards and 

Technology (NIST) 

NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers 200,000

NIST Graduate Student Measurement Science & Engineering Fellowship 

Program

640,000

NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program 1,700,000

National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric 

Administration 

Bay Watershed Education and Training Program 7,952,700

Environmental Literacy Program 3,000,000

Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions 14,431,000

Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program 5,830,000

National Sea Grant College Program (National Sea Grant College ProgramEducation Component)904,061

Teacher at Sea Program 600,000

Department of Defense (DOD)

Air Force Air Force K-12 STEM Outreach 3,995,000

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship 43,905,926

Army Army Educational Outreach Program 10,220,356

Navy Science and Engineering Apprentice Program c

SeaPerch 57,000
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 108 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program c

Secretary of Defense DOD STARBASE Program 25,000,000

National Defense Education Program Military Child Pilot Program 13,466,982

National Defense Education Program K-12 5,512,106

National Defense Education Program Science, Mathematics and Research for 

Transformation 

33,602,660

Department of Education Developing Hispanic–Serving Institutions: STEM and Articulation Programs 92,425,366

Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Needd 29,293,000

Mathematics and Science Partnerships 152,717,000

Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program 9,648,000

Research in Special Educationd 44,775,891

Research, Development, and Disseminationd 179,032,382

Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutionsd 13,905,000

Upward Bound Math–Science 44,289,274

Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Competitions 2,500,000

American Chemical Society Summer School in Nuclear and Radiochemistry 561,000

BioenergizeME 300,000

Collegiate Wind Competition 750,000

Community College Internships 1,000,000

Computational Science Graduate Fellowship 11,500,000

Environmental Management—Minority Serving Institution Partnership 

Program 

5,615,075

Environmental Management—Traineeship in Robotics 3,000,035

Hampton University Graduate Studies 50,000

Industrial Assessment Centers 7,000,000

Integrated University Program 4,980,486

Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program 700,000

Minority Educational Student Partnership Program (summer interns) 933,900

National Nuclear Security Administration—Minority Serving Institutions 

Partnership Program

16,500,000

National Science Bowl 2,900,000

Office of Science Graduate Student Research 2,500,000

Race to Zero Student Design Competition 472,500

Radiochemistry Summer School 300,000

Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative 1,000,000

Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships 8,300,000
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 109 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

Solar Decathlon 2,500,000

Traineeship in Radiochemistry 3,000,000

Visiting Faculty Program 1,700,000

Department of Health and Human Services

National Institutes of 

Health

Aging Research Dissertation Awards to Increase Diversity 451,361

Blueprint Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through 

Undergraduate Research Education Experiences

2,333,036

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative: 

Short Courses in Computational Neuroscience

401,280

Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program 9,549,894

Bridges to the Doctorate 3,424,610

Cancer Education Grants Program 10,771,449

Cancer Research Education Grants Program—Research Experiences 912,361

Center for Cancer Research Cancer Research Interns 182,232

Center for Cancer Research/ John Hopkins University Master of Science in 

Biotechnology Concentration in Molecular Targets and Drug Discovery 

Technologies

266,976

Courses for Skills Development in Biomedical Big Data Science 4,356,583

Drug Abuse Dissertation Research 413,106

Enriching the Hematology Research Workforce through Short-term 

Educational Experiences in Emerging Science Research Education Program 

Grant

311,644

Graduate Partnerships Program 10,873,246e

Initiative for Maximizing Student Development 22,442,998

Initiative to Maximize Research Education in Genomics: Diversity Action Plan 2,995,000

Innovative Programs to Enhance Research Training 6,761,954

Intramural National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research 

Opportunities

260,396

Maximizing Access to Research Careers U-STAR 17,484,652

Medical Informatics Training Program 900,000

Mental Health Research Dissertation Grant to Increase Diversity 70,725

National Cancer Institute Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award 

(F99 portion only)

1,366,103

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural 

Research Office of Training and Diversity Sponsorship Program

561,778

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural 

Research Office of Training and Diversity Summer Diversity Program

14,106
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 110 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Research 

Education Program Grants for Summer Research Experiences 

1,200,000

National Institute of Mental Health Mentoring Networks for Mental Health 

Research Education

786,789

National Institute of Mental Health Research Education Mentoring Programs 

for HIV/AIDS Research

2,812,201

National Institute of Mental Health Short Courses for Mental Health-Related 

Research Education

1,416,275

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Neuroscience 

Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce

1,020,046

National Institute of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute 65,000

National Institute on Aging Medicine, Science, Technology, Engineering and 

Mathematics: Advancing Diversity in Aging Research through Undergraduate 

Education

4,248,443

National Library of Medicine Institutional Training Grants for Research 

Training in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

12,672,914

NIH Big Data to Knowledge Enhancing Diversity in Biomedical Data Science 673,730

NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity Initiative (RL5 portion only) 10,480,823

NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity Initiative (TL4 portion only) 16,427,440

Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Program 32,642,180e

Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program 11,193,892

Research Education Grants for Statistical Training in the Genetics of Addiction 505,160

Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement 27,291,181

Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research 35,956,662

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research 

Training Grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1)

295,884,161

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual 

Predoctoral Fellows, including Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Groups and 

Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

78,108,710

Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership Award 483,000

Science Education Partnership Award 18,541,000

Short Courses on Mathematical, Statistical, and Computational Tools for 

Studying Biological Systems

2,416,584

Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in HealthRelated Research4,574,028

Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (R25) 14,588,697

Student Intramural Research Training Award Program 7,276,883e

Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics 1,470,346

Summer Research Education Experience Programs 3,620,084
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 111 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name

Reported fiscal year 

2016 STEM education 

program obligations

(in dollars)

Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education 615,518

Training in Computational Neuroscience: From Biology to Model and Back 

Again (R90 portion only)

865,048

Undergraduate Research Education Program to Enhance Diversity in the 

Environmental Health Sciences

645,215

Undergraduate Scholarship Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged 

Backgrounds

2,249,743

Undergraduate Summer Institutes in Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic 

Diseases (R25)

621,600

Department of Homeland Security 

Science and 

Technology 

Directorate

Homeland Security STEM Summer Internship Program 500,000

Minority Service Institutions—Scientific Leadership Awards 3,600,000

Minority Service Institutions—Summer Research Team 500,000

Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological 

Survey 

Education Component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping 

Program

419,438

National Association of Geoscience Teachers–USGS Cooperative Summer 

Field Training Program

208,000

Student Intern in Support of Native American Relations 68,738

Bureau of Indian 

Affairs

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Trust Services, Pathways Internship 

Program

475,082

Science Post Graduate Scholarship Fund 2,450,000

Department of Transportation

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation

University Transportation Centers Program 67,700,000

Federal Aviation 

Administration

Joint University Program 250,000

Federal Highway 

Administration

Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Education Program 332,150

National Summer Transportation Institute 2,620,293

Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups 1,300,000

Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA)

Cooperative Training in Environmental Sciences Research 532,768

Environmental Education Grants Program 3,306,600

Environmental Research Training Grant (University of Cincinnati/EPA 

Research Training Grant)

175,000

National Environmental Education Program 2,175,500

People, Prosperity, and Planet Award: National Student Design Competition 

for Sustainability

223,795

President’s Environmental Youth Award 80,000

Source: GAO questionnaire of STEM education programs. | GAO-18-371SP
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 112 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Note: Amounts obligated for each program for fiscal year 2016 were reported to us by program 

officials in response to our questionnaire. GAO did not independently verify this information.

a

This program has not obligated any funds to the public. It is a share-cost program supported by 

Department of Agriculture agencies.

b

Department of Agriculture officials reported two programs as STEM education for 2016 that they had 

not reported previously for 2010, despite being funded then.

c

Department of Defense officials reported a combined obligation amount for these two programs: 

$2,216,482.

d

According to Department of Education officials, these programs also support a wide variety of nonSTEM-related fields and activities.

e

According to Health and Human Services officials, obligations for these programs are estimates.

Table 30: Area 14 Foreign Currency Fluctuation: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017

account balance

Department of Defense Foreign Currency Fluctuation, 

Defense Account

The purpose of this account is to 

maintain the budgeted level of 

operations in the Military 

Personnel and Operation and 

Maintenance appropriations by 

mitigating substantial losses to 

those appropriations caused by 

foreign currency rate fluctuations.

$970 million

Source: GAO analysis of Department of Defense Information. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 31: Area 15 Supply Operations at Military Depots: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Department of Defense, Army 

Materiel Command

Army Working Capital Fund, 

Industrial Operations

Five maintenance depots—Anniston, Alabama; Corpus Christi, 

Texas; Letterkenny, Pennsylvania; Red River, Texas; and 

Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania—repair and overhaul of a wide 

range of vehicles and other military assets, including 

helicopters, combat vehicles, and air defense systems. The 

Army largely retains the management of its retail supply 

functions at the depots.

Department of Defense, Naval 

Sea Systems Command 

Navy Shipyards The four shipyards—Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia; Pearl 

Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility 

in Hawaii; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine; and Puget 

Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility 

in Washington—provide depot- and intermediate-level 

maintenance on ships and submarines. The shipyards 

continue to use the same retail supply, storage, and 

distribution processes and Navy information systems that 

existed prior to the nominal transfer of the functions to the 

Defense Logistics Agency.
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 113 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Agency Program name Program description

Department of Defense, Marine 

Corps Logistics Command

Marine Corps Working Capital 

Fund, Depot Maintenance 

The Marine Corps depots—Albany, Georgia, and Barstow, 

California—perform depot maintenance functions to ensure 

repair, overhaul, and timely upgrades of the right types and 

quantities of weapons systems and support equipment. The 

Marine Corps largely retains the management of its retail 

supply functions at the depots. 

Department of Defense, Defense 

Logistics Agency (DLA)

DLA Working Capital Fund, 

Supply Chain Management

DLA procures, stores, and distributes approximately 6.2 million 

consumable items—those that are normally expended or 

intended to be used up beyond recovery or repair—and 

provides these items to the services when requisitioned in 

support of approximately 2,400 weapon systems. DLA fully 

manages consumable items at the retail level for Air Force and 

Navy aviation depots, but does not for the Army and Marine 

Corps depots and the Navy shipyards. At the Air Force and 

Navy aviation depots, DLA personnel are largely co-located 

with the actual maintenance activities at the sites and use 

DLA’s business processes and expertise to manage the 

supply, storage, and distribution of DLA-managed inventory.

Source: GAO analysis of Department of Defense documentation. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 32: Area 16 Fiscal Management of the Universal Service Fund: Related Program and Net Position

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017

net positiona

Federal Communications 

Commission (FCC)

Universal Service Fund 

(USF)

Universal service is the principle that 

all Americans should have access to 

communications services. By law, 

carriers providing interstate and 

international telecommunications 

services must contribute to federal 

universal service, unless exempted 

by FCC. These contributions, or 

fees, are to be equitable and 

nondiscriminatory and are to be 

deposited into USF.

$7.157 billion

Source: GAO analysis of FCC documents. | GAO-18-371SP

a

Net position is the difference between assets and liabilities.
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 114 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 33: Area 17 DOE’s Treatment of Hanford’s Low-Activity Waste: Comparisons of Total Estimated Costs for Grouting 

Low-Activity Waste (LAW) at the Savannah River Site and Vitrifying LAW at the Hanford Site, Based on Best Available 

Information (dollars in millions)

Savannah River Site Hanford Site

Existing and new salt 

waste processing facilities

LAW

treatment facility

Vitrification facility for 

supplemental LAWa Total

Estimated cost to construct 

treatment facilities 

$2,700 $6,500b $6,500 $13,000

Estimated cost to treat LAW $2,800 $20,000c $20,000 $40,000

Total estimated cost $5,500 $53,000

Total LAW (gallons)d 36 million 49 million

Estimated average cost per gallon of 

LAW treated 

$153/gallon $1,081/

gallon

Source: GAO analysis of Department of Energy (DOE) data and interviews. | GAO-18-371SP

Notes: All costs and cost estimates in this table are presented in 2015 dollars. In addition, the 

estimates for both sites do not include costs to dispose of the treated waste. GAO did not evaluate 

whether the grouted waste form at the Savannah River Site would meet Washington State’s 

hazardous waste management requirements. Further, because DOE does not have complete 

information on the costs of various treatment options, nor has it precisely specified the treatment 

options it will pursue, GAO’s analysis is based on the best information it could obtain. In particular, 

the precise costs of vitrifying Hanford’s LAW are not known. To the extent possible, GAO 

corroborated estimated costs with available budget documents, DOE reports, and DOE officials. 

Because some of DOE’s estimated costs were approximations, GAO conducted a sensitivity analysis 

by examining the cost-per-gallon difference between the Hanford and Savannah River Sites under 

different scenarios. This helped GAO assess how, if at all, imprecise information could affect the 

results of this comparison. For example, if DOE operated Hanford’s LAW treatment facility and a 

vitrification facility for supplemental LAW for 20 years, rather than its projected 39 years—which 

would cost about $10 billion in total—DOE’s costs would be about $673 per gallon. In this scenario, 

DOE’s costs per gallon to vitrify all of Hanford’s LAW would still be about four times the costs to grout 

the Savannah River Site’s LAW.

In addition, DOE uses the term “low-activity waste” to mean the waste that remains after as much 

radioactivity as technically and economically practical has been separated from tank waste that, when 

solidified, may be disposed of as low-level radioactive waste in a near-surface facility. At its 

Savannah River Site, DOE refers to the low-activity portion of its waste as low-level waste or “salt 

waste.” For the purpose of this review, GAO refers to the low-activity portion of the waste at both the 

Hanford and Savannah River Sites as LAW.

a

DOE has not yet made a decision on how it will treat supplemental LAW. However, DOE’s current 

life-cycle estimate assumes that a second LAW vitrification facility will be built and operated with the 

same technical assumptions as the first one.

b

Until 2016, DOE had estimated that construction of the LAW facility would cost $1.4 billion. 

According to DOE’s December 2016 estimates, additional modifications to DOE’s approach to 

treating LAW have added $4.8 billion. In addition, DOE is building a new $316 million facility to 

prepare the tank waste before it is brought into the LAW treatment facility ($6.5 billion total). However, 

although available information indicates that it will cost $6.5 billion to construct the facilities needed 

for LAW treatment, DOE estimated in a March 2017 internal monthly status report that the direct feed 

LAW approach—which encompasses the Waste Treatment Plant LAW facility and other infrastructure 

needed for treating the initial portion of LAW—will cost $8.3 billion. GAO did not include this higher 

figure in the estimated construction costs because it was unable to review the source documents 

associated with it. Nevertheless, if the cost to construct the facilities needed for LAW treatment is 

$8.3 billion, this will increase the cost-per-gallon figure for vitrifying LAW.

c

DOE does not have an estimate for the cost to treat LAW. However, according to contractor 

estimates, the cost for commissioning and operating the LAW facility and associated support systems 

is currently estimated at about $600 million per year ($530 million when adjusted for inflation). DOE is 
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 115 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

currently planning to begin operating the facility in 2022, and treatment is not expected to finish until 

2061 (39 years) (about $20 billion total).

d

These figures reflect the total amount of waste previously treated and currently stored in the tanks. 

However, the total amount of waste treated will be significantly higher because the waste will need to 

be diluted before it can be treated.

Table 34: Area 17 DOE’s Treatment of Hanford’s Low-Activity Waste: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program description

Fiscal year 2016 

obligations

Department of Energy (DOE) DOE oversees the treatment and disposal of about 54 million gallons of 

radioactive tank waste from the nation’s nuclear weapons program at 

the Hanford Site in Hanford, Washington.

$692 milliona

Source: GAO analysis of Department of Energy budget information. | GAO-18-371SP

a

In fiscal year 2016, the DOE obligated $692 million for the Waste Treatment Plant, which is the 

department’s current planned approach to treating Hanford’s high-level tank waste and a portion of its 

low-activity tank waste.

Table 35: Area 18 Employment Taxes: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Department of the Treasury/Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS)

National Research Program 

Employment Tax Study

Taxes withheld by employers from payments to their 

employees are a significant portion of federal revenue. In 

fiscal year 2016, of such taxes remitted by employers, almost 

$1.274 trillion came from income tax liabilities, $1 trillion 

came from Social Security and Medicare employment tax 

liabilities, and $8 billion from unemployment insurance tax 

liabilities. In April 2016, IRS estimated the gross employment 

tax gap (the difference between taxes owed and paid 

voluntarily on time) for tax years 2008 to 2010 to be $16 

billion, or about 3.5 percent of the total estimated gross tax 

gap. The gross employment tax gap was due to taxpayers 

underreporting employment taxes that employers are to 

withhold and remit to cover liabilities for income tax, Social 

Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment insurance.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 36: Area 19 Tax Fraud and Noncompliance: Related Program Information

Agency Program name Program description

Department of the Treasury/Internal 

Revenue Service

Refund Fraud Prevents refund fraud, including identity theft refund fraud, 

and provides assistance to identity theft victims.

Source: GAO. | GAO-18-371SP
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 116 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 37: Area 20 Premium Tax Credit Improper Payments: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description Fiscal year 2017 

obligations

Department of the 

Treasury/Internal Revenue 

Service

Premium assistance tax credit To help pay the cost of insurance 

premiums for taxpayers and their 

dependents, the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act provides a premium 

tax credit to individuals who meet certain 

income and other requirements. The 

credit can be paid in advance to the 

taxpayer’s insurance company to lower 

the monthly premium payments, or it can 

be claimed when a taxpayer files their 

income tax return for the year. If the 

credit is paid in advance, the taxpayer 

must reconcile the advance credit 

payments with the actual credit to which 

they are entitled computed on the tax 

return, subject to certain caps.

$35.029 billion

Source: Budget of the U.S. Government, fiscal year 2019. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 38: Area 21 VA Medical Supplies Procurement: Related Program and Expenditure Information

Agency Program name Program description

Reported Expenditures

(December 2016 to February 2018)

Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA)

Medical Surgical Prime 

Vendor-Next Generation

The Medical Surgical Prime Vendor-Next 

Generation program is VA’s primary 

means for purchasing supplies, such as 

bandages and scalpels, for all VA 

medical centers to meet the health care 

needs of about 7 million veterans. The 

program includes hundreds of new 

contracts with individual supply vendors 

and a new set of prime vendor contracts 

to distribute the supplies.

$408 million 

Source: GAO analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs documentation. | GAO-18-371SP

Table 39: Area 22 Bureau of Prisons Health Care Costs: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description Fiscal year 2017 

obligations

Federal Bureau of 

Prisons (BOP)

Medical Services, Drug 

Treatment, and 

Psychology Services

BOP delivers medical and dental health care 

services to all inmates housed in BOP institutions; 

provides treatment to inmates with a diagnosed 

drug use disorder; and provides mental health 

treatments to inmates with mental health needs. 

$1.370 billion

Source: GAO analysis of the Bureau of Prisons Congressional Budget Justification. | GAO-18-371SP
Appendix VI: Additional Information on 

Programs Identified

Page 117 GAO-18-371SP Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication

Table 40: Area 23 Railroad Retirement Board Continuing Disability Reviews: Related Program and Budgetary Information

Agency Program name Program description

Fiscal year 2017 

total costs

Railroad Retirement Board Railroad Retirement Act 

Program

The Railroad Retirement Program provides 

retirement, survivor, and disability benefits to 

railroad workers and their families.

$12.7 billion

Source: GAO analysis of Railroad Retirement Board Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2017. | GAO-18-371SP

Note: Continuing disability reviews are one of several disability-related activities that the Railroad 

Retirement Program oversees.

(102063)
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety 

without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain 

copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be 

necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and investigative 

arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional 

responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the 

federal government for the American people. GAO 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’s commitment to good government 

is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost is 

through GAO’s website (http://www.gao.gov). Each weekday afternoon, GAO 

posts on its website newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence. To 

have GAO e-mail you a list of newly posted products, go to http://www.gao.gov

and select “E-mail Updates.”

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of production and 

distribution and depends on the number of pages in the publication and whether 

the publication is printed in color or black and white. Pricing and ordering 

information is posted on GAO’s website, http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 

TDD (202) 512-2537.

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard, 

Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional information.

Connect with GAO on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E-mail Updates. Listen to our Podcasts. 

Visit GAO on the web at www.gao.gov. 

Contact:

Website: http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm 

E-mail: 

Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470

Orice Williams Brown, Managing Director, WilliamsO@gao.gov, (202) 512-4400, 

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125, 

Washington, DC 20548

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 

Washington, DC 20548

James-Christian Blockwood, Managing Director, spel@gao.gov, (202) 512-4707

U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7814, 

Washington, DC 20548

GAO’s Mission

Obtaining Copies of 

GAO Reports and 

Testimony

Order by Phone

Connect with GAO

To Report Fraud, 

Waste, and Abuse in 

Federal Programs

Congressional 

Relations

Public Affairs

Strategic Planning and 

External Liaison

Please Print on Recycled Paper.