GOVERNMENT 

EFFICIENCY AND 

EFFECTIVENESS

Opportunities to Reduce 

Fragmentation, Overlap, 

and Duplication and 

Achieve Other Financial 

Benefits

Statement of Gene L. Dodaro 

Comptroller General of the United States

Testimony 

Before the Committee on Oversight 

and Government Reform, House of 

Representatives

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 1:30 p.m. EST

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

GAO-14-478T

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-14-478T, testimony before 

the Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform, House of Representatives 

April 2014

GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND 

EFFECTIVENESS

Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and 

Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits

Why GAO Did This Study

As the fiscal pressures facing the 

government continue, so too does the 

need for executive branch agencies 

and Congress to improve the efficiency 

and effectiveness of government 

programs and activities. Opportunities 

to take action exist in areas where 

federal programs or activities are 

fragmented, overlapping, or 

duplicative. 

To highlight these challenges and to 

inform government decision makers on 

actions that could be taken to address 

them, GAO is statutorily required to 

identify and report annually to 

Congress on federal programs, 

agencies, offices, and initiatives, both 

within departments and governmentwide, which have duplicative goals or 

activities. GAO has also identified 

additional opportunities to achieve 

greater efficiency and effectiveness by 

means of cost savings or enhanced 

revenue collection.

This statement discusses the (1) new 

areas identified in GAO’s 2014 annual 

report; (2) status of actions taken by 

the administration and Congress to 

address the 162 areas previously

identified in GAO’s 2011, 2012 and 

2013 annual reports; and (3) 

opportunities to address the issues 

GAO identified. To identify what 

actions exist to address these issues 

and take advantage of opportunities for 

cost savings and enhanced revenues, 

GAO reviewed and updated prior work 

and recommendations for 

consideration. 

What GAO Found

GAO’s 2014 annual report identifies 64 new actions that executive branch 

agencies and Congress could take to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 

26 areas of government. GAO identifies 11 new areas in which there is evidence 

of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication. For example, under current law, 

individuals are allowed to receive concurrent payments from the Disability 

Insurance and Unemployment programs. Eliminating the overlap in these

payments could save the government about $1.2 billion over the next 10 years. 

GAO also identifies 15 new areas where opportunities exist either to reduce the 

cost of government operations or enhance revenue collections. For example, 

Congress could rescind all or part of the remaining $4.2 billion in credit subsidies 

for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan program unless the 

Department of Energy demonstrates sufficient demand for this funding.

The executive branch and Congress have made progress in addressing the 

approximately 380 actions across 162 areas that GAO identified in its past 

annual reports. As of March 6, 2014, the date GAO completed its progress 

update audit work, nearly 20 percent of these areas were addressed, over 60 

percent were partially addressed, and about 15 percent were not addressed, as 

shown in the figure below. Executive branch and congressional efforts to address 

these and other actions over the past 3 years have resulted in over $10 billion in 

cost savings with billions of dollars more in cost savings anticipated in future 

years. 

Assessment of 2011-2013 Areas and Actions Needed, as of March 6, 2014 

Better data and a greater focus on outcomes are essential to improving the 

efficiency and effectiveness of federal efforts. Currently, there is not a 

comprehensive list of all federal programs and agencies often lack reliable 

budgetary and performance information about their own programs. Without 

knowing the scope, cost, or performance of programs, it is difficult for executive 

branch agencies or Congress to gauge the magnitude of the federal commitment 

to a particular area of activity or the extent to which associated federal programs 

are effectively and efficiently achieving shared goals. View GAO-14-478T. For more information, 

contact Orice Williams Brown or A. Nicole 

Clowers at (202) 512-8678. 
 

Page 1 GAO-14-478T 

Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings, and Members of the 

Committee: 

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss our 2014 annual report, which 

presents 26 new opportunities to reduce fragmentation, overlap, and 

duplication, and achieve other financial benefits.1 My testimony today 

describes the (1) new issues identified in our 2014 annual report; (2) the 

status of actions taken by the administration and Congress to address the 

issues identified in our past annual reports2 and (3) opportunities to 

address the issues we identified. My comments are based upon our 2014 

annual report, which is being released today, as well as our update on the 

progress made in implementing actions that we have made in our 

previous annual reports. These efforts are based upon work GAO 

conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards.

We identified 11 new areas in which we found evidence of fragmentation, 

overlap, or duplication and present 19 actions to executive branch 

agencies and Congress to address these issues. As described in table 1, 

these areas span a wide range of federal functions or missions.

 

1

GAO, 2014 Annual Report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, 

and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-14-343SP (Washington, D.C.: 

April 8, 2014).

2

GAO, Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax 

Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, GAO-11-318SP (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 1, 2011), 2012 

Annual Report: Opportunities to Reduce Duplication, Overlap and Fragmentation, Achieve 

Savings, and Enhance Revenue, GAO-12-342SP (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 28, 2012), and 

2013 Annual Report: Actions Needed to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication 

and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-13-279SP (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 9, 2013). 

Twenty-six New 

Areas Identified to 

Improve Efficiency 

and Effectiveness 

across the Federal 

Government
 

Page 2 GAO-14-478T 

Table 1: Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication Areas Identified in Our 2014 Report, by Mission

Mission Areas identified

Defense Army Workforce Planning: To address potential overlap between two Army information systems that 

support workforce planning for weapon system maintenance, manufacturing, and other industrial operations, 

the Army should increase leadership attention and establish a fully developed and documented approach for 

completing a timely assessment of unnecessary overlap, which could lead to millions of dollars in annual 

savings.

Contracting for Defense Health Care Professionals: The Department of Defense should develop a 

consolidated agency-wide strategy to contract for health care professionals to reduce fragmentation and 

achieve greater efficiencies.

Defense Satellite Control Operations: Increased use of shared satellite control networks and leading 

practices within the Department of Defense could reduce fragmentation and potential duplication associated 

with dedicated systems, resulting in millions of dollars in savings annually.

Defense Studies and Analysis Research: To address fragmentation in the processes used across the 

department to request studies and analysis research and limit the potential for overlap and duplication in 

research activities, the Department of Defense should establish a mechanism that requires the military 

services and other departmental offices to formally coordinate their annual research requests.

POW/MIA Mission: The Department of Defense should minimize overlapping and duplicative efforts by 

examining options to reduce fragmentation and clarify guidance on roles and responsibilities among the 

eight organizations that account for missing persons and improve the effectiveness of the mission.

Health

a

Federal Autism Research: Because much of the $1.2 billion that federal agencies spent on autism 

research from fiscal years 2008 through 2012 had the potential to be duplicative, the Interagency Autism 

Coordinating Committee and federal agencies should improve coordination and monitoring of autism 

research to help avoid unnecessary duplication.

Minority AIDS Initiative: Consolidating the fragmented funding of the Department of Health and Human 

Services’ Minority AIDS Initiative into core HIV/AIDS funding would likely reduce grantees’ administrative 

burden and help the agency more efficiently and effectively serve minority populations who are 

disproportionally affected by HIV/AIDS, with the approximately $3 billion used for this purpose. 

Income security Disability and Unemployment Benefits: 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 $1.2 billion over 10 years in the Social Security Disability 

Insurance program according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Federal Employees’ Compensation and Unemployment Benefits: Changes to enhance the sharing of 

compensation and wage information between state and federal agencies could improve the Department of 

Labor’s ability to identify potentially improper payments, including inappropriately overlapping payments 

from the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program and the Unemployment Insurance program 

administered by the states.

Information 

technology

Interoperable Radio Communications Systems: Better collaboration among agencies that rely on radio 

communications solutions for mission-critical operations would help to address fragmentation in their 

approach to improving the interoperability of radio communications systems and has the potential to achieve 

savings.

International affairs International Religious Freedom: To promote international religious freedom more effectively, the 

Department of State and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom should define how they 

are to interact in their efforts; the lack of defined roles has at times created tensions with foreign government 

officials.

Source: GAO.

a

On March 31, 2014, the Secretary of Defense announced that he has ordered a reorganization of the 

missing persons accounting community to consolidate functions and address duplication and 
 

Page 3 GAO-14-478T 

inefficiency. This announcement addresses our recommendation to examine options to reorganize 

the accounting community and is an important step towards reducing duplication and inefficiencies. 

However, the department has not yet clarified roles and responsibilities for the new organization, and 

it remains unclear to what extent this reorganization will address some other coordination challenges 

that we identified. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these and other actions to 

improve the mission and goals of the missing person accounting community. 

We consider programs or activities to be fragmented when more than one 

federal agency (or more than one organization within an agency) is 

involved in the same broad area of national need, which may result in 

inefficiencies in how the government delivers services. We identified 

fragmentation in multiple programs we reviewed. For example, the 

Department of Defense (DOD) does not have a consolidated agency-wide 

strategy to contract for health care professionals, resulting in a 

contracting approach that is largely fragmented. Although some of the 

military departments have attempted to consolidate their health care 

staffing requirements through joint-use contracts, such contracts only 

accounted for approximately 8 percent of the $1.14 billion in obligations 

for health care professionals in fiscal year 2011.3

Moreover, in May 2013, we identified several instances in which 

numerous task orders were awarded by a single military department for 

the same type of health care professional in the same area or facility.4 For 

example, we identified 24 separate task orders for contracted medical 

assistants at the same military treatment facility. By not consolidating its 

requirements, this facility missed the opportunity to achieve potential cost 

savings and other efficiencies. To reduce fragmentation and achieve 

greater efficiencies, DOD should develop a consolidated agency-wide 

strategy to contract for health care professionals.

Fragmentation can also be a harbinger for overlap or duplication. Overlap 

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

similar activities or strategies to achieve them, or target similar 

beneficiaries. We found overlap among federal programs or initiatives in a 

variety of areas, such as overlapping benefits between the Disability 

Insurance and Unemployment Insurance programs. In July 2012, we 

 

3

A joint-use contract is a contract used by more than one military department or used at 

joint military facilities.

4

GAO, Defense Health Care: Department of Defense Needs a Strategic Approach to 

Contracting for Health Care Professionals, GAO-13-322 (Washington, D.C.: May 28, 

2013). 
 

Page 4 GAO-14-478T 

reported that 117,000 individuals received concurrent cash benefit 

payments in fiscal year 2010 from the Disability Insurance and 

Unemployment Insurance programs totaling more than $850 million 

because current law does not preclude the receipt of overlapping 

benefits.5 Individuals may be eligible for benefit payments from both 

Disability Insurance and Unemployment Insurance due to differences in 

the eligibility requirements; however, in such cases, the federal 

government is replacing a portion of lost earnings not once, but twice.

The President’s fiscal year 2015 budget submission proposes to eliminate 

these overlapping benefits, and during the 113th Congress, bills have 

been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate 

containing language to reduce Disability Insurance payments to 

individuals for the months they collect Unemployment Insurance benefits. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this action could 

save $1.2 billion over 10 years in the Social Security Disability Insurance 

program. Congress should consider passing legislation to offset Disability 

Insurance benefit payments for any Unemployment Insurance benefit 

payments received in the same period.

In other areas of our work, we found evidence of duplication, which 

occurs when two or more agencies or programs are engaged in the same 

activities or provide the same services to the same beneficiaries. 

Examples of duplicative, or potentially duplicative, federal efforts include 

DOD’s use of dedicated satellite control operations. We reported in April 

2013 that DOD has increasingly deployed dedicated satellite control 

operations networks as opposed to shared networks that support multiple 

kinds of satellites.6 For example, at one Air Force base in 2013, eight 

separate control centers operated 10 satellite programs. Dedicated 

networks can offer some benefits to programs, but they can also be more 

costly to maintain and have led to a fragmented, and potentially 

duplicative, approach that requires more infrastructure and personnel to 

manage when compared with shared networks.

 

5

GAO, Income Security: Overlapping Disability and Unemployment Benefits Should be 

Evaluated for Potential Savings, GAO-12-764 (Washington, D.C.: July 31, 2012).

6

GAO, Satellite Control: Long-Term Planning and Adoption of Commercial Practices 

Could Improve DOD’s Operations, GAO-13-315 (Washington, D.C.: April 18, 2013).
 

Page 5 GAO-14-478T 

While opportunities exist to improve DOD satellite control operations, we 

identified certain barriers that hinder DOD’s ability to increase the use of 

shared networks, such as the inability to quantify all spending on satellite 

ground control operations and the absence of DOD-wide guidance or a 

plan that supports the implementation of alternative methods for 

performing satellite control operations. These barriers also have hindered 

DOD’s ability to achieve optimal satellite control systems that would result 

in cost savings in this area. To address the duplication and inefficiencies 

that arise from dedicated satellite control operations networks, DOD 

should take actions to improve its ability to identify and then assess the 

appropriateness of a shared versus dedicated satellite control system.

In addition to areas of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, our 2014 

report identified 15 new areas where opportunities exist either to reduce 

the cost of government operations or to enhance revenue collections for 

the Treasury and suggest 45 actions that the executive branch and 

Congress can take to address these issues. These opportunities for 

executive branch or congressional action exist in a wide range of federal 

government missions (see table 2).

Table 2: Cost Savings and Revenue Enhancement Opportunities Identified in Our 2014 Annual Report, by Mission

Mission Areas identified

Defense Combatant Command Headquarters Costs: The Department of Defense could potentially achieve 

tens of millions or more in cost savings annually if it (1) more systematically evaluates the sizing and 

resourcing of its combatant commands and (2) conducts a more comprehensive analysis of options for 

the location of U.S. Africa Command’s headquarters.

Energy Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program: Unless the Department of Energy 

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 $4.2 billion in credit 

subsidy appropriations.

General government Coin Inventory Management: The Federal Reserve should develop a process to assess factors 

influencing coin management costs and identify practices that could potentially lead to millions of dollars 

in revenue enhancement.

Collection of Unpaid Federal Taxes: The federal government can increase tax revenue collections by 

hundreds of millions of dollars over a 5-year time period by identifying and taking actions to limit 

issuance of passports to applicants, continually levy payments to Medicaid providers, or identify 

security-clearance applicants with unpaid federal taxes. 

Federal Real Property Ownership and Leasing: The General Services Administration could 

potentially achieve millions of dollars in savings by using capital-planning best practices to create a 

long-term strategy for targeted ownership investments to replace some high-value leases.

Online Taxpayer Services: The Internal Revenue Service 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.
 

Page 6 GAO-14-478T 

Mission Areas identified

Real Estate-Owned Properties: Improvements to the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development’s Federal Housing Administration’s disposition and oversight practices for foreclosed 

properties could produce increased sales proceeds and savings from maintenance and other expenses 

from holding properties totaling hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

Reverse Auctions in Government Contracting Including Commercial Items: Due to increasing 

government use of reverse auctions—with over $1 billion awarded in contracts in fiscal year 2012—

additional guidance may help maximize opportunities to increase competition and improve the accuracy 

of estimated cost savings.

Tax Policies and Enforcement: The Internal Revenue Service can realize cost savings and increase 

revenue by, among other things, identifying continued offshore tax evasion and evaluating whether the 

agency’s streamlined corporate audit process is meeting its goals.

Health Medicaid Demonstration Waivers: Federal spending on Medicaid demonstrations could be reduced 

by billions of dollars if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were required to improve 

the process for reviewing, approving, and making transparent the basis for spending limits approved for 

Medicaid demonstrations. GAO’s work between 2002 and 2013 has shown that HHS approved several 

demonstrations without ensuring that they would be budget neutral to the federal government.

Income security Disability Insurance: The Social Security Administration could prevent significant potential cash benefit 

overpayments in the Disability Insurance program by obtaining more-timely earnings data to identify 

beneficiaries’ work activity that is beyond program limits and suspend benefits appropriately.

Veterans’ and Survivors’ Benefits: The Department of Veterans Affairs’ direct spending could be 

reduced—by an average of about $4 million annually, according to the Congressional Budget Office—if 

new statutory provisions were enacted, namely, a look-back review and penalty period for claimants 

who transfer assets for less than fair market value prior to applying for pension benefits that are 

available to low-income wartime veterans who are at least 65 years old or have disabilities unrelated to 

their military service. This action would help to ensure that only those in financial need receive benefits 

and make the program more consistent with other federal programs for low-income individuals.

Information technology Information Technology Investment Portfolio Management: The Office of Management and Budget 

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. 

Social services Better Data to Mitigate Foreclosures: The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal 

Housing Administration and the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture could improve 

outcomes and better manage the costs associated with foreclosure mitigation efforts with additional data 

collection and analysis, potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars on an annual and recurring basis.

Housing Choice Vouchers Rent Reform: By improving data collection and analysis efforts under the 

Moving to Work demonstration program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development would 

provide Congress with information to determine which rent reform option should be implemented 

program-wide and thereby potentially reduce program funding by millions of dollars or extend housing 

assistance to additional low-income households or some combination of these outcomes.

Source: GAO.

For example, to achieve cost savings, Congress may wish to consider 

rescinding all or part of the remaining credit subsidy appropriations to the 

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, 

unless the Department of Energy (DOE) can demonstrate sufficient

demand for new ATVM loans and viable applications. We reported in 

March 2013 that DOE last issued a loan under this program in March 
 

Page 7 GAO-14-478T 

2011 and was not actively considering any applications for the remaining 

$4.2 billion in credit subsidy appropriations under the ATVM loan 

program.7 Also, most applicants and manufacturers we had spoken to 

indicated that the costs of participating outweigh the benefits to their 

companies and that problems with other DOE programs have tarnished 

the ATVM loan program, which may have led to a deficit of applicants. 

Since our March 2013 report, DOE has received one application seeking 

approximately $200 million.

DOE recently stated that it has begun new outreach efforts to potential 

applicants that will increase awareness and interest in the program and 

lead to additional applications in 2014. However, DOE has not further 

demonstrated a demand for ATVM loans, such as new applications that 

meet all the program eligibility requirements and involve amounts 

sufficient to justify retaining the remaining credit subsidy appropriations, 

nor has it explained how it plans to address challenges cited by previous 

applicants including a burdensome review process. Determining whether 

program funds will be used is important, particularly in a constrained fiscal 

environment, as unused appropriations could be rescinded or directed 

toward other government priorities.

We also identified multiple opportunities for the government to increase 

revenue collections. In particular, the federal government could increase 

tax revenue collections by hundreds of millions of dollars over a 5-year 

period by denying certain privileges or payments to individuals with 

delinquent federal tax debt. For example, Congress could enable or 

require the Secretary of State to screen and prevent individuals who owe 

federal taxes from receiving passports. We found that in fiscal year 2008, 

passports were issued to about 16 million individuals; of these, over 1 

percent collectively owed over $5.8 billion in unpaid federal taxes as of 

September 30, 2008.8 According to a 2012 CBO estimate, the federal 

government can save about $500 million over a 5-year period on the 

revocation or denial of passports in case of certain federal tax 

delinquencies.

 

7

GAO, Department of Energy: Status of Loan Programs, GAO-13-331R (Washington, 

D.C.: Mar. 15, 2013).

8

GAO, Federal Tax Collection: Potential for Using Passport Issuance to Increase 

Collection of Unpaid Taxes, GAO-11-272 (Washington, D.C.: March 10, 2011).
 

Page 8 GAO-14-478T 

In addition to the new actions identified for this year’s annual report, we 

have continued to monitor the progress that executive branch agencies 

and Congress have made in addressing the issues we identified in our 

last three annual reports.9 We evaluated progress by determining an 

overall assessment rating for each area and an individual assessment 

rating for each action within an area. We found that the executive branch 

agencies and Congress have generally made progress in addressing the 

162 areas we previously identified. As of March 6, 2014, the date we 

completed our audit work, 19 percent of these areas were addressed, 62 

percent were partially addressed, and 15 percent were not addressed 

(see fig.1).10 Within these areas, we presented about 380 actions that the 

executive branch agencies and Congress could take to address the 

issues identified. As of March 6, 2014, 32 percent of these actions were 

addressed, 44 percent were partially addressed and 19 percent were not 

addressed.11

 

9

Our findings on this progress are reported in GAO’s Action Tracker, a publicly accessible 

website that includes progress updates and assessments of the actions from this series of 

reports. 

10In assessing overall progress for an area, we determined that an area was “addressed” 

if all actions in that area were addressed; “partially addressed” if at least one action 

needed in that area showed some progress toward implementation but not all actions 

were addressed; and “not addressed” if none of the actions needed in that area were 

addressed or partially addressed. Four areas reported in 2011 and one area reported in 

2012 were not assessed this year because of additional audit work or other information we 

considered, and we have categorized those areas as “consolidated or other.” Additionally, 

we did not provide an overall assessment for two areas reported in 2011 and one area

reported in 2012 because we added new actions for which progress has not yet been 

assessed to those areas.

11For congressional actions, we 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, 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. For executive 

branch actions, “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. In 

addition, 19 actions we identified in 2011 and 2012 were not assessed this year due to 

additional audit work or other information we considered, and we have categorized those 

actions as “consolidated or other.” 

Executive Branch and 

Congress Continue to 

Make Progress in 

Addressing 

Previously Identified 

Issues
 

Page 9 GAO-14-478T 

Figure 1: Assessment of 2011, 2012, and 2013 Areas and Actions Needed, as of March 6, 2014

Note: In assessing overall progress for an area, we determined that an area was “addressed” if all 

actions in that area were addressed; “partially addressed” if at least one action needed in that area 

showed some progress toward implementation but not all actions were addressed; and “not 

addressed” if none of the actions needed in that area were addressed or partially addressed.

In assessing actions suggested for Congress, we 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, 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. 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.

Actions and areas assessed as “consolidated or other” were not assessed this year because of 

additional work or other information we considered. Additionally, we did not provide an overall 

assessment for two areas reported in 2011 and one area reported in 2012 because we added new 

actions for which progress has not yet been assessed to those areas.

Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress toward 

addressing our identified actions, as shown in figure 2. In particular, an 

additional 58 actions have been assessed as addressed over the past 

year. These addressed actions include 19 actions identified in 2011, 21 

actions identified in 2012, and 18 actions identified in 2013.
 

Page 10 GAO-14-478T 

Figure 2: Changes in Assessment of Actions from the 2013 to 2014 Annual Reports

Note: In assessing actions suggested for Congress, we 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, 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. 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. Actions assessed as “consolidated or other” 

were not assessed this year because of additional work or other information we considered. 

Additionally, 2013 actions were not assessed in 2013 since that was the year that the actions were 

identified.

The following examples illustrate the progress that has been made over 

the past year:

• Farm program payments: In our 2011 annual report, we stated that 

Congress could save up to $5 billion annually by reducing or 

eliminating direct payments. Direct payments are fixed annual 

payments to farmers based on a farm’s history of crop production. 

Farmers received them regardless of whether they grew crops and 

even in years of record income. The Agricultural Act of 2014 

eliminated direct payments and should save approximately $4.9 billion 
 

Page 11 GAO-14-478T 

annually from fiscal year 2015 through fiscal year 2023, according to 

CBO.12

• Passenger aviation security fees: In our 2012 annual report, we 

presented options for adjusting the Transportation Security 

Administration’s (TSA) passenger security fee—a uniform fee on 

passengers of U.S. and foreign air carriers originating at airports in 

the United States—to offset billions of dollars in civil aviation security 

costs. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, enacted on December 26, 

2013, modifies 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, effective July 1, 2014.13

Pursuant to the act, collections under this modified fee structure will 

contribute to deficit reduction as well as to offsetting TSA’s aviation 

security costs.14 Specifically, the act identifies $12.6 billion in fee 

collections that, over a 10-year period beginning in fiscal year 2014 

and continuing through fiscal year 2023, will contribute to deficit 

reduction.15 Fees collected beyond those identified for deficit 

reduction are available, consistent with existing law, to offset TSA’s 

aviation security costs. According to the House of Representatives 

and Senate Committees on the Budget, and notwithstanding amounts 

dedicated for deficit reduction, collections under the modified fee 

structure will offset about 43 percent of aviation security costs, 

 

12In February 2014, CBO estimated the reduction in spending to be about $4.5 billion 

annually from 2015 through 2023. However, according to a CBO representative, this 

amount included an assumption that automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, 

would continue indefinitely into the future. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 established 

new discretionary spending limits that reduced the level of automatic spending reductions 

for 2014 and 2015. Pub. L. No. 113-67, 127 Stat. 1165 (2013). CBO estimated that 

without sequestration, the elimination of direct payments would save approximately $4.9

billion annually from 2015 through 2023.

13See Pub. L. No. 113-67, § 601(b), 127 Stat. at 1165, 1187 (amending 49 U.S.C. § 

44940(c)). 

14In addition, the first $250 million in fees collected each fiscal year are, consistent with 

existing law, to be deposited in the Aviation Security Capital Fund for use in supporting 

aviation security–related airport capital improvement projects or for other purposes 

specified in statute. See 49 U.S.C. §§ 44923(h), 44940(i). 

15See 49 U.S.C. § 44940(i) (identifying, among other things, the specific amount to be 

credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury each 

fiscal year, 2014 through 2023).
 

Page 12 GAO-14-478T 

compared with the approximately 30 percent currently offset under the 

existing fee structure.16

• Combat uniforms: In our 2013 annual report, we noted that DOD 

employed a fragmented approach for acquiring combat uniforms and 

could improve efficiency, better protect servicemembers, and realize 

cost savings through increased collaboration among the military 

services. Over the past year, DOD and Congress addressed all three 

actions that we identified. In September 2013, DOD developed and 

issued guidance on joint criteria that will help to ensure that future 

service-specific uniforms will provide equivalent levels of performance 

and protection. In December 2013, a provision in the National 

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 established as policy 

that the Secretary of Defense shall eliminate the development and 

fielding of service-specific combat and camouflage utility uniforms in 

order to adopt and field common uniforms for specific environments to 

be used by all members of the armed forces. Subject to certain 

exceptions, the provision also prohibits the military departments from 

adopting new pattern designs or uniform fabrics unless they will be 

adopted by all services or the uniform is already in use by another 

service.17

We estimate that executive branch and congressional efforts to address 

these and other actions from fiscal year 2011 through fiscal year 2013 

have resulted in over $10 billion in realized cost savings to date, and 

 

16In addition to the passenger security fee, TSA also currently imposes a fee on air 

carriers—the Aviation Security Infrastructure Fee—to further offset the costs of aviation 

security. See 49 U.S.C. § 44940(a)(2). Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act, TSA’s 

authority to collect this fee will expire effective October 1, 2014. See Pub. L. No. 113-67, § 

601(a), 127 Stat. at 1187. 

17See Pub. L. No. 113-66, § 352(a), (b) (2013). In addition, DOD must issue implementing 

guidance requiring the military departments to, among other things, ensure that new 

uniforms meet geographic and operational requirements of the commanders of combatant 

commands and continually work together to assess and develop new uniform 

technologies to improve warfighter survivability. See § 352(f).
 

Page 13 GAO-14-478T 

projections of these efforts have estimated that billions of dollars more in 

savings will accrue over the next 10 years.18

Although Congress and executive branch agencies have made notable 

progress toward addressing the actions we have identified, further steps 

are needed to fully address the remaining actions, as shown in table 3. 

More specifically, over 60 percent of actions directed to Congress and 

executive branch agencies identified in 2011, 2012, and 2013 remain 

partially addressed or not addressed.

Table 3: Status of 2011, 2012, and 2013 Actions Directed to Congress and the Executive Branch, as of March 6, 2014

Congressa Executive branch

Status 

b

Number of actions Percentage Number of actions Percentage

Addressed 18 27 105 33

Partially addressed 10 15 162 50

Not addressed 32 48 43 13

Consolidated or other 6 9 13 4 

Source: GAO.

Notes: In assessing actions suggested for Congress, we 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, 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. 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. Actions assessed as “consolidated or other” 

were not assessed this year because of additional work or other information we considered.

Percentages may not add to 100 percent because of rounding.

a

Congress took steps that fully addressed one action and partially addressed another action directed 

to executive branch agencies.

b

Executive branch agencies took steps that addressed three actions directed to Congress.

Sustaining momentum and making significant progress on our suggested 

actions for reducing, eliminating, or better managing fragmentation, 

 

18Our estimate of about $10.7 billion in realized savings to date includes savings from the 

Domestic Ethanol Production, Baggage Screening Systems, and Air Force Food Service 

areas. It does not include projected savings, revenue enhancements, or cost avoidances 

from the Farm Program Payments, Overseas Defense Posture, Auto Recovery Office, or 

Passenger Aviation Security Fees areas because those financial benefits have not yet 

been fully realized. 
 

Page 14 GAO-14-478T 

overlap, or duplication or achieving other potential financial benefits 

cannot occur without demonstrated commitment by executive branch 

leaders and continued oversight by Congress. A number of the issues 

that we have identified are complex, and implementing many of the 

actions will take time and sustained leadership. As our work has shown, 

committed leadership is needed to overcome the many barriers to 

working across agency boundaries, such as agencies’ concerns about 

protecting jurisdiction over missions and control over resources or 

incompatible procedures, processes, data, and computer systems.19

Without increased or renewed leadership focus, agencies may miss 

opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their programs 

and save taxpayers’ dollars.

As we have previously reported, addressing the issues identified in our 

annual reports could lead to tens of billions of dollars of savings. Table 4 

highlights selected opportunities that could result in cost savings or 

enhanced revenues.

Table 4: Selected Areas with Associated Cost-Savings and Revenue-Enhancement Opportunities in 2011 – 2013 Annual 

Reports 

Annual report Areas identified 

2011 Enterprise Architecture (Area 14): Well-defined and implemented enterprise architectures in federal agencies 

can lead to consolidation and reuse of shared services and elimination of antiquated and redundant mission 

operations, which can result in significant cost savings. For example, the Department of the Interior 

demonstrated that it had used enterprise architecture to modernize agency information technology operations 

and avoid costs through enterprise software license agreements and hardware procurement consolidation, 

resulting in financial savings of at least $80 million. In addition, Health and Human Services will achieve 

savings and cost avoidance of over $150 million between fiscal years 2011 to 2015 by leveraging its enterprise 

architecture to improve its telecommunications infrastructure. 

2011 Federal Data Centers (Area 15): Consolidating federal data centers provides an opportunity to improve 

government efficiency and achieve cost savings of up to $3 billion over 10 years. 

2011 Oil and Gas Resources (Area 45): Improved management of federal oil and gas resources could result in 

approximately $2 billion in additional revenue over 10 years. 

 

19In addition, we have previously identified key practices that can help federal agencies 

enhance and sustain their collaborative efforts along with key features to consider as they 

implement collaborative mechanisms and work to address these actions. See GAO, 

Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance and Sustain 

Collaboration among Federal Agencies, GAO-06-15 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2005) 

and Managing for Results: Key Considerations for Implementing Interagency Collaborative 

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

Page 15 GAO-14-478T 

Annual report Areas identified 

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

enforce offsets and ensure benefit fairness, which could result in an estimated $2.4 billion to $2.9 billion in 

savings over 10 years. 

2012 Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Detection Systems (Area 46): The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 

need to ensure widespread use of its fraud detection systems to better position itself to determine and measure 

progress toward achieving the $21 billion in financial benefits that the agency projected as a result of 

implementing these systems. 

2012 Immigration Inspection Fee (Area 49): The air and sea passenger immigration inspection user fee should be 

reviewed and adjusted to fully recover the cost of the air and sea passenger immigration inspection activities 

conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. 

Customs and Border Protection rather than using general fund appropriations; In 2012 this could have resulted 

in a reduction of about $175 million in appropriated funds used for inspection services. 

2012 Domestic Disaster Assistance (Area 51): The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 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. For fiscal years 2004 through 2011, had FEMA adjusted the indicator for 

increases in inflation or personal income since 1986, fewer jurisdictions would have met the eligibility criteria for 

federal assistance and federal costs could have been as much as $3.59 billion lower.

2013 Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Fees (Area 18): The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service could have achieved as much as $325 million in savings (based on fiscal year 

2011 data, as reported in GAO’s March 2013 report) by more fully aligning fees with program costs; although the 

savings would be recurring, the amount would depend on the cost-collections gap in a given fiscal year and 

would result in a reduced reliance on U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s annual Salaries and Expenses 

appropriations used for agricultural inspection services. 

2013 Crop Insurance (Area 19): To achieve up to $1.2 billion per year in cost savings in the crop insurance 

program, Congress could consider limiting the subsidy for premiums that an individual farmer can receive each 

year, reducing the subsidy for all or high-income farmers participating in the program, or some combination of 

limiting and reducing these subsidies.

2013 Checked Baggage Screening (Area 28): By reviewing the appropriateness of the federal cost share the 

Transportation Security Administration applies to agreements financing airport facility modification projects 

related to the installation of checked baggage screening systems, the Transportation Security Administration 

could, if a reduced cost share was deemed appropriate, achieve cost efficiencies of up to $300 million by 2030 

and be positioned to install a greater number of optimal baggage screening systems than it currently anticipates. 

2013 Tobacco Taxes (Area 31): Federal revenue losses were as much as $615 million to $1.1 billion between 

April 2009 and 2011 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. 

Source: GAO.
 

Page 16 GAO-14-478T 

Even with sustained leadership, addressing fragmentation, overlap, and 

duplication within the federal government is challenging because it may 

require agencies and Congress to re-examine within and across various 

mission areas the fundamental structure, operation, funding, and 

performance of a number of long-standing federal programs or activities 

with entrenched constituencies. As we have previously reported, these 

challenges are compounded by a lack of good data.

In particular, we have found that the lack of a comprehensive list of 

federal programs and reliable budget information makes it difficult to 

identify, assess, and address potential fragmentation, overlap, and 

duplication. Currently, no comprehensive list of federal programs exists, 

nor is there a common definition for what constitutes a federal program. 

We have also reported instances where agencies could not isolate 

budgetary information for some programs because the data were 

aggregated at higher levels. For example, in 2012 we reported that 

agencies were not able to provide complete and reliable federal funding 

information on many of the 94 nonfederal sector green building initiatives. 

According to agency officials, many of the initiatives are part of broader 

programs, and the agencies do not track green building funds separately 

from the funds for other activities.

Without knowing the scope of programs or the full cost of implementing 

them, it is difficult for executive branch agencies or Congress to gauge 

the magnitude of the federal commitment to a particular area of activity or 

the extent to which associated federal programs are effectively and 

efficiently achieving shared goals. Moreover, the lack of reliable, detailed 

budget information makes it difficult to estimate the cost savings that 

could be achieved should Congress or agencies take certain actions to 

address identified fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. Absent this 

information, Congress and agencies cannot make fully informed decisions 

on how federal resources should be allocated and the potential budget 

trade-offs.

In addition, we have called attention to the need for improved and regular 

performance information. The regular collection and review of 

performance information, both within and among federal agencies, could 

help executive branch agencies and Congress determine whether the 

return on federal investment is adequate and make informed decisions 

about future resource allocations. However, as we previously noted, our 

annual reports on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication highlight 

several instances in which executive branch agencies do not collect 

necessary performance data.

Better Data and a 

Focus on Outcomes 

Are Essential to 

Improving Efficiency 

and Effectiveness
 

Page 17 GAO-14-478T 

Effective implementation of the framework originally put into place by the 

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)20 and 

significantly enhanced by the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 

(GPRAMA)21 could help clarify desired outcomes, address program 

performance spanning multiple organizations, and facilitate future actions 

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

duplication. In particular, GPRAMA establishes a framework aimed at 

taking a more crosscutting and integrated approach to focusing on results 

and improving government performance. The crosscutting approach 

required by the act will provide a much needed basis for more fully 

integrating a wide array of federal activities as well as a cohesive 

perspective on the long-term goals of the federal government that is 

focused on priority policy areas. It could also be a valuable tool for reexamining existing programs government-wide and for considering 

proposals for new programs.

However, the usefulness of these requirements hinges on the effective 

implementation of the act’s provisions. In our June 2013 review of initial 

implementation, we reported that the executive branch needed to more 

fully implement GPRAMA to address pressing governance challenges, 

such as addressing fragmentation, overlap, and duplication.22 Moreover, 

our ongoing work continues to find opportunities to improve 

implementation of the act. For example, GPRAMA requires the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) to develop an inventory of federal 

programs.23 OMB directed 24 large federal agencies to develop and 

publish inventories of their programs in May 2013. However, our 

preliminary review of these initial inventories identified concerns about the 

usefulness of the information being developed and the extent to which it 

might be able to assist executive branch and congressional efforts to 

identify and address fragmentation, overlap, and duplication. For 

 

20Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).

21Pub. L. No. 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011).

22GAO, Managing for Results: Executive Branch Should More Fully Implement the GPRA 

Modernization Act to Address Pressing Governance Challenges, GAO-13-518 

(Washington, D.C.: Jun. 26, 2013). 

23GPRAMA requires OMB to compile and make publicly available a comprehensive list of 

all federal programs identified by agencies, and to include the purposes of each program, 

how it contributes to the agency’s mission, and recent funding information. 31 U.S.C. 

§ 1122(a). 
 

Page 18 GAO-14-478T 

example, OMB’s guidance for developing the inventories provided 

agencies with flexibility to define their programs by such factors as 

outcomes, customers, products/services, organizational structure, and 

budget structure. As a result, agencies took various approaches to define 

their programs. Many used their budget structure while others used 

different approaches, such as identifying programs by related outcomes 

or customer focus. The variation in definitions across agencies limits 

comparability among similar programs.24

Proposed legislation could help address some of the data limitations we 

have identified. For example, the proposed Digital Accountability and 

Transparency Act is intended to improve the accountability and

transparency of federal spending data (1) by establishing governmentwide financial data standards so that data are comparable across 

agencies and (2) by holding agencies more accountable for the quality of 

the information disclosed.25 Such increased transparency provides 

opportunities for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of federal 

spending and improving oversight to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and 

abuse of federal funds.

In conclusion, identifying and addressing instances of fragmentation, 

overlap, and duplication is challenging. While some progress has been 

made, more work remains. We plan to conduct further analysis to look for 

additional or emerging instances of fragmentation, overlap, and 

duplication and opportunities for cost savings or revenue enhancement. 

Likewise, we will continue to monitor developments in the areas we have 

already identified in this series. We stand ready to assist this and other 

committees in further analyzing the issues we have identified and 

evaluating potential solutions.

Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings, and Members of the 

Committee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to 

answer questions.

 

24We plan to further explore these issues and report later this spring on potential ways 

that the federal program inventory might be improved going forward.

25H.R. 2061, 113th Cong. (2013); S. 994, 113th Cong. (2014).
 

Page 19 GAO-14-478T 

For further information on this testimony or our April 8, 2014, report, 

please contact Orice Williams Brown, Managing Director, Financial 

Markets and Community Investment, who may be reached at (202) 512-

8678 or williamso@gao.gov, and A. Nicole Clowers, Director, Financial 

Markets and Community Investment, who may be reached at (202) 512-

8678 or clowersa@gao.gov. Contact points for the individual areas listed 

in our 2014 annual report can be found at the end of each area at

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-343SP. Contact points for our 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs offices may be found on the 

last page of this statement.

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