*HomeU.S. Government Accountability Office*
Menu

      close


          
          
                          	
				
				
	
	
					Reports & Testimonies
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Reports & Testimonies
													
																												
																						
							
																Recommendations Database
							
																												
																						
							
																Month in Review
							
																												
																						
							
																Order Copies
							
																												
																						
							
																Restricted Reports
							
																												
																						
							
																View Topics
							
																												
																						
							
																View Agencies
							
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
													
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests
							
																												
																						
							
																Appropriations Law
							
																												
																						
							
																Federal Vacancies Reform Act
							
																												
																						
							
																Other Legal
							
																												
																						
							
																About
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								About
													
																												
																						
							
																What GAO Does
							
																												
																						
							
																U.S. Comptroller General
							
																												
																						
							
																Careers
							
																												
																						
							
																Contact UsFor Congress
                                
                          
        
                Press Center
                                
                          
        
                Careers
                                
                          
        
                BlogSearch < WatchBlog: Following the Federal Dollar
    Our Latest High Risk List Update—GAO Sees Progress in 16 Areas, But Lingering Serious Issues in Others Posted on April 20, 2023
                    Today, we issued our latest High Risk List, which includes 37 areas across the federal government vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or in need of transformation.

Every 2 years, at the start of each new session of Congress, we issue an update to our High Risk List. Since the last update 2 years ago, the federal government has accrued approximately $100 billion in financial benefits by addressing the areas on this list. In the past 17 years, financial benefits to the federal government due to progress in addressing high risk areas (FY 2006 through FY 2022) totaled nearly $675 billion. There are many other benefits that cannot be measured in dollar terms, such as improved service to the public and enhanced ability to achieve agency missions.

GAO’s High Risk List is a blueprint on how the federal government can work better, improve its programs, and save money. Working collaboratively with Congress, agency leaders, and OMB to help implement lasting solutions, we’ve seen many issues come off the High Risk List since we started the program more than thirty years ago,” said Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO. “At the same time, the current list makes clear how much work remains to overcome a number of serious challenges facing the federal government. Addressing those issues has the potential to save significant amounts of money and improve services that are vital to the wellbeing of the American people.

Today’s WatchBlog post looks at this most recent update to our High Risk List, including a new addition and areas that were removed.

**What changed under the new list?**

Our list includes **one new high risk area**—*Strengthening Management of the Federal Prison System*. The Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) faces significant, longstanding management challenges—including staffing—which represent a serious threat to inmate and staff safety. Additionally, BOP’s plans to manage key rehabilitation programs are limited. These programs require better planning and ongoing review by BOP to be successful in reducing some inmates’ sentences through credit-earning programs and lowering the rate of recidivism. When GAO and BOP leadership recently met about these issues, the new Director of the Bureau of Prisons expressed her commitment to bring sustained attention to resolving this high risk area.

Learn more about why we added Federal Prisons to our new High Risk List in the video below with GAO’s Gretta Goodwin, an expert on federal prisons.

Video URL
              2023 High Risk Update: Management of the Federal Prison System
      Transcript
              TranscriptAlso included in this update are **two areas that were added in 2022** due to significant and long-standing challenges.

*Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Leadership and Coordination of Health Emergencies* was added because GAO has found persistent deficiencies in HHS’ leadership role in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies and extreme weather events.
	The *Unemployment Insurance System* was designated high risk due to long-standing problems with the joint federal-state program’s ability to meet the needs of unemployed workers, lessen the risk of fraud and improper payments, and prevent large financial losses of taxpayer money.Since our last report in 2021, **one area has regressed**–*DOD Business Systems Modernization*–in its overall and segment ratings against our criteria for removal from the High Risk List. This was in part because DOD’s efforts to produce action plans to address our concerns have stalled.

There is some good news. **Two areas were removed** from the list because they showed enough improvement—*Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Insurance Programs* and the *2020 Decennial Census.* In addition to these two areas, **progress was seen in 14 areas**, the most since GAO began rating high-risk areas against our criteria in 2015.

Since the advent of the high risk program, 29 areas have come off of the list, and in March 2022, GAO issued a report to guide agencies through the high risk criteria to facilitate progress and take action toward removal.

**How does GAO decide what to add to the High Risk List?**

The High Risk List uses five criteria to assess progress on high risk areas: leadership commitment, agency capacity, an action plan, monitoring efforts, and demonstrated progress. These criteria form a road map for efforts to improve and ultimately address high risk issues. This illustrative example shows how we rate progress for a high risk area using these criteria.

Image
              Graphic showing a star in the middle, and each point is part of our criteria for getting off our High Risk List --Leadership commitment, capacity, action plan, monitoring, demonstrated progress.

A little over half of the high risk areas (21) have fully met one or more of the five criteria. And 16 areas showed improvement since 2021.

GAO’s High Risk List has helped form the basis for both agency-specific and government-wide solutions to improve performance and save money. The entire 2023 High Risk Listis available on GAO.gov.

Comments on GAO’s WatchBlog? Contact blog@gao.gov.
TopicsGovernment Operations
                        Bureau of Prisons
              U.S. Census Bureau
              Department of Health and Human Services
              Department of Labor
              Department of Defense
                        High risk areas
              High risk series
              Fraud
              Fraud, waste, and abuse
              Federal prisons
              Unemployment insurance
              Public health emergencies
                        Strategic Issues
              Homeland Security and Justice
GAO Contacts
    
      Michelle Sager
      
              Michelle Sager
            
            Managing Director
      
            sagerm@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-6806
    greta_goodwin_2023
      
              Gretta L. Goodwin
            
            Director
      
            goodwing@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-8777
		
					Related Posts
		
			Pie chart showing where improper payments were made --Medicare, Medicaid, the Paycheck Protection Program, and federal Pandemic Unemployment comprised about 20% each. All other programs were under 20% total.
          Blog Post
              Federal Government Made $236 billion “Improper Payments” Last Fiscal Year
            Tuesday, March 26, 2024
      
            The federal government reported an estimated $236 billion in “improper payments” during the most...
          Photo of prison cell
          Blog Post
              Federal Prisons Haven’t Addressed Longstanding Concerns About Overuse of Solitary Confinement
            Tuesday, February 6, 2024
      
            In prisons, restrictive housing—including solitary confinement—is meant to temporarily separate...
          Photo showing a filing cabinet folders marked "fraud," "Insurance," Claims" and "Under Investigation"
          Blog Post
              More Fraud Has Been Found in Federal COVID Funding—How Much Was Lost Under Unemployment Insurance Programs
            Wednesday, September 13, 2023
      
            Criminal charges against individuals in alleged COVID-19 funding fraud are growing. Last month, the...

Related Products
					High-Risk Series: Efforts Made to Achieve Progress Need to Be Maintained and Expanded to Fully Address All AreasProduct Number
              GAO-23-106203

	Published:  Apr 20, 2023


	Publicly Released: Apr 20, 2023
About WatchblogGAO's mission is to provide Congress with fact-based, nonpartisan information that can help improve federal government performance and ensure accountability for the benefit of the American people. GAO launched its WatchBlog in January, 2014, as part of its continuing effort to reach its audiences—Congress and the American people—where they are currently looking for information.

The blog format allows GAO to provide a little more context about its work than it can offer on its other social media platforms. Posts will tie GAO work to current events and the news; show how GAO’s work is affecting agencies or legislation; highlight reports, testimonies, and issue areas where GAO does work; and provide information about GAO itself, among other things.

Please send any feedback on GAO's WatchBlog to blog@gao.gov.
 Receive GAO Updates
  Stay informed as we add new reports & testimonies.

    GAO Logo
      U.S. Government Accountability Office


                                   Column 1
                            Press Center
                              Contact Us
                              Inspector General
                              Restricted Reports
                              Column 2
                            Copyright & Terms of Use
                              Privacy Policy
                              Accessibility
                              Sitemap
                              Column 3
                            FOIA Requests
                              Scam Alerts
                              No FEAR Act Data
                              Health Care Advisory Committees