2020 Annual report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Billions in Financial Benefits
Released: 2020-05-19T00:00:00

Letter

Congress and Executive Branch Agencies Continue to Address Actions Identified over the Last 10 Years across the Federal Government, Resulting in Significant Benefits

Congress and executive branch agencies have made consistent progress in addressing many of the actions we have identified since 2011, as shown in figure 2 and table 4. As of March 2020, Congress and executive branch agencies had fully or partially addressed nearly 80 percent of the actions we identified from 2011 to 2019. See GAO’s online Action Tracker for the status of all actions.

Actions Taken by Congress and Executive Branch Agencies Led to Billions in Financial Benefits

As a result of steps Congress and executive branch agencies have taken to address our open actions, we have identified approximately $429 billion in total financial benefits, including $166 billion identified since our last report. About $393 billion of the total benefits accrued between 2010 and 2019, while approximately $36 billion are projected to accrue in 2020 or later, as shown in figure 3.

Since our first annual report in 2011, these benefits have contributed to missions across the federal government, as shown in figure 4.

Table 5 highlights examples of results achieved in addressing actions we identified over the past 10 years.

Other Benefits Resulting from Actions Taken by Congress and Executive Branch Agencies

Our suggested actions, when implemented, often result in benefits such as strengthened program oversight; improvements in major government programs or agencies; more effective and equitable government; and increased international security. The following recent examples illustrate these types of benefits.

Housing Assistance (2012-28): The federal government and state and local entities provide both rental assistance and affordable housing through a wide variety of programs. In February 2012, we found instances of fragmentation and overlap among federal rental assistance program.

We recommended that the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) work with states and localities to develop an approach for compiling and reporting on the collective performance of federal, state, and local rental assistance programs.

In 2019, Executive Order 13878 established the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. The establishment of the council and the actions taken by HUD are positive steps for reaching out to states and localities and allowing Congress, decision makers, and stakeholders to evaluate collective performance data and provide mechanisms for setting priorities, allocating resources, and restructuring efforts, as needed, to achieve long-term housing goals.

Military and Veterans Health Care (2012-15): The Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) play key roles in offering support to servicemembers and veterans through various programs and activities. In 2012, we found that the departments needed to improve integration across care coordination and case management programs to reduce duplication and better assist servicemembers, veterans, and their families.

We recommended that the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs develop and implement a plan to strengthen functional integration across all DOD and VA care coordination and case management.

The departments took several steps between 2012 and 2019 to address this, including establishing a Care Coordination Business Line within their joint Health Executive Committee. This function is intended to develop mechanisms for making joint policy decisions, involve the appropriate decision makers for timely implementation of policy, and ensure that outcomes and goals are identified and achieved, among other things. By taking these steps, DOD and VA strengthen their oversight and more closely integrate care coordination efforts.

Tax Policies and Enforcement (2015-17): Since 1980, partnerships’ and S corporations’ share of business receipts increased greatly. These entities generally do not pay income taxes; instead, income or losses (hundreds of billions of dollars annually) flow through to partners and shareholders on their personal income tax returns. In 2014, we found that the full extent of partnership and S corporation income misreporting is unknown.

Electronic filed (e-filed) tax returns provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with digital information to improve enforcement operations and service to taxpayers. We recommended that Congress consider expanding the mandate that partnerships and corporations e-file their tax returns to cover a greater share of filed returns.

In 2018, Congress passed and the President signed legislation lowering the e-file threshold for partnership and corporation returns. Requiring greater e-filing of tax return information will help IRS identify which partnership and corporation tax returns would be most productive to examine, and could reduce the number of compliant taxpayers selected for examination. Further, expanded e-filing will reduce IRS’s tax return processing costs.

Coordination of Overseas Stabilization Efforts (2019-12): The United States has a national security interest in promoting stability in countries affected by violent conflict. We looked at how three federal agencies and an independent institute support conflict prevention, mitigation, and stabilization efforts, such as removing explosives hidden near homes. In 2019, we found that although these entities have worked together in Iraq, Nigeria, and Syria, they had not documented their agreement on key areas of collaboration, such as clarifying roles and responsibilities for stabilization efforts.

We recommended that the Departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development should document their agreement to coordinate U.S. stabilization efforts. In 2019, the agencies took several steps to address this such as publishing a directive with the agreed upon definition of stabilization, description of agency roles and responsibilities, and related policies and guidance.

Articulating their agreement in formal documents should help strengthen the agencies’ coordination of U.S. stabilization efforts and mitigate the risks associated with fragmentation, overlap, and duplication.

Action on Remaining and New Areas Could Yield Significant Additional Benefits

Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress toward addressing the 1,076 actions we have identified since 2011. However, further efforts are needed to fully address the 467 actions that are partially addressed, not addressed, or new. We estimate that at least tens of billions of dollars in additional financial benefits could be realized should Congress and executive branch agencies fully address open actions, and other improvements can be achieved as well.

Open Areas Directed to Congress and Executive Branch Agencies with Potential Financial Benefits

In our 2011 to 2020 annual reports, we directed 110 actions to Congress, including the three new congressional actions we identified in 2020. Of the 110 actions, 58 (about 53 percent) remained open as of March 2020. Appendix V has a full list of all open congressional actions.

We also directed 966 actions to executive branch agencies, including 165 new actions identified in 2020. As shown in figure 5, these actions span the government and are directed to dozens of federal agencies. Six of these agencies—DOD, IRS, OMB, VA, and the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security, have more than 20 open actions. Of the 966 actions, 409 (42 percent) remained open as of March 2020.

A significant number of open actions are directed to four agencies that made up about 79 percent of federal outlays in fiscal year 2019—HHS, the Social Security Administration, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and DOD. Figure 6 highlights agencies with open actions as well as their fiscal year 2019 share of federal outlays.

We identified potential financial benefits associated with many open areas with actions directed to Congress and the executive branch. These benefits range from millions of dollars to tens of billions of dollars. For example, DOD could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars annually by accurately measuring and reducing excess funded, unfinished work at military depots.

In another example, IRS should establish a formal collaborative mechanism with the Department of Labor to better manage fragmented efforts and enhance compliance for certain individual retirement accounts that engaged in prohibited transactions, and thereby potentially increase revenues by millions of dollars.

Table 6 highlights examples of areas where additional action could potentially result in financial benefits of $1 billion or more.

Open Areas with Other Benefits Directed to Congress and Executive Branch Agencies

Table 7 shows selected areas where Congress and executive branch agencies can take action to achieve other benefits, such as increased public safety, and more effective delivery of services.

This report was prepared under the coordination of Jessica Lucas-Judy, Director, Strategic Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-9110 or lucasjudyj@gao.gov, and J. Christopher Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov. Specific questions about individual issues may be directed to the area contact listed at the end of each summary. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

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. This provision also requires us to report annually to Congress on our 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 have Congress and executive branch agencies addressed actions in our 2011 to 2019 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 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. 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. While fragmentation, overlap, and duplication are associated with a range of potential costs and benefits, we include them in this report only if there may be opportunities to improve how the government delivers these services.

This report presents 18 new areas of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication where greater efficiencies or effectiveness in providing government services may be achievable. The report also highlights 11 other new opportunities for potential cost savings or revenue enhancements. In addition to these 29 new areas, we identified 88 new actions related to 10 existing areas presented in our 2011 to 2019 annual reports.

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 recommendations to identify what additional actions Congress may wish to consider and agencies may need to take. For example, we used 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.

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 these actions was not possible in some cases because information about the extent and impact of fragmentation, overlap, and 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. In addition, the needed information was not readily available on, among other things, program performance, the level of funding devoted to duplicative programs, or the implementation costs and time frames that might be associated with program consolidations or terminations. As possible, we used partial data and conservative assumptions to provide rough estimates of potential savings magnitude, when more precise estimates were not possible.

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 they are used in our products. We 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 new area 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.

Assessing the Status of Previously Identified Actions

To examine the extent to which Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress in implementing the 908 actions in the approximately 325 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 2019 and March 2020.

We also analyzed, to the extent possible, whether 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 2020 because that is when we received our last updates. The progress statements and updates are published on GAO’s 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 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.

Actions suggested for Congress may also move to “addressed” or “partially addressed” with or without relevant legislation if an executive branch agency takes steps that address all or part of the action needed. 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.

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 80 actions as “other” and are no longer assessing these actions. We categorized 48 “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 32 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.

Methodology for Generating Total Financial Benefits Estimates

To calculate the total financial benefits resulting from actions already taken (addressed or partially addressed) and potential financial benefits from actions that are not fully addressed, we compiled available estimates for all of the actions from GAO’s Action Tracker, from 2011 through 2019, and from reports identified for inclusion in the 2020 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 financial benefits 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 financial benefits covered a range of time periods stretching from 2010 through 2029. 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 2019 and those expected to accrue between 2020 and 2029. For individual estimates that span both periods, we assumed that financial benefits were distributed evenly over the period of the estimate. For each category, we summed the individual estimates 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 that could accrue from actions not yet taken because these estimates are dependent on whether, how, and when agencies and Congress take our recommended actions, or due to lack of sufficiently detailed data to make reliable forecasts. As a result, many estimates of potential savings are notionally stated using terms like millions, tens of millions, or billions, to demonstrate a rough magnitude without providing a more precise estimate.

Further, many of these estimates are not tied to specific time frames for the same reason. To calculate a total for potential savings, with a conservative approach, we used the minimum number associated with each term. 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 we 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.

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

This appendix presents 18 new areas in which we found evidence of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication among federal government programs.

1. Army Small Business Engagement

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and comment. In its response, DOD officials stated that Army Futures Command is taking the steps necessary to implement GAO’s recommendations, as reflected above.

Related GAO Product

Army Modernization: Army Futures Command Should Take Steps to Improve Small Business Engagement for Research and Development. GAO-19-511. Washington, D.C.: July 17, 2019.

2. DOD Privatization of Utility Services

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided DOD with a draft of this report section for comment. DOD provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

DOD Utilities Privatization: Improved Data Collection and Lessons Learned Archive Could Help Reduce Time to Award Contracts. GAO-20- 104. Washington, D.C.: April 2, 2020.

3. SBA’s Microloan Program

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to SBA for review and comment. SBA stated it plans to continue to explore opportunities for collaboration with USDA and Treasury. SBA also provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

SBA Microloan Program: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Program Performance Measurement, Collaboration, and Reporting. GAO-20-49. Washington, D.C.: November 19, 2019.

4. Bank Secrecy Act Implementation

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to FinCEN for review and comment. In its comments, FinCEN continued to disagree with the recommendations and stated that no futures industry association had applied for BSA advisory group membership and that it advised CFTC staff on the areas that the National Futures Association should include as part of a request for direct BSA data access. GAO maintains that the recommendations are both valid, believes that FinCEN advising CFTC is a good first step, and will continue to monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

Related GAO Product

Bank Secrecy Act: Agencies and Financial Institutions Share Information but Metrics and Feedback Not Regularly Provided. GAO-19-582. Washington, D.C.: August 27, 2019.

5. DATA Act Data Governance

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to OMB for review and comment. OMB did not provide comments on this report section.

Related GAO Products

DATA Act: Quality of Data Submissions Has Improved but Further Action Is Needed to Disclose Known Data Limitations. GAO-20-75. Washington, D.C.: November 8, 2019.

DATA Act: Data Standards Established, but More Complete and Timely Guidance Is Needed to Ensure Effective Implementation. GAO-16-261. Washington, D.C.: January 29, 2016.

DATA Act: Progress Made in Initial Implementation but Challenges Must be Addressed as Efforts Proceed. GAO-15-752T. Washington, D.C.: July 29, 2015.

6. Federal Agencies’ Evidence-Building Activities

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), CNCS, Education, HHS, DOL, and USAID for review and comment. In its response, HHS provided documentation in February 2020 about the actions it plans to take—as part of its implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act—to address the two recommendations directed to it. GAO will monitor HHS’s actions, which GAO believes would likely address its recommendations, if effectively implemented. CNCS and DOL informed GAO they had no comments on this report section. USAID provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated, as appropriate. OMB and Education did not provide comments.

Related GAO Product

Evidence-Based Policymaking: Selected Agencies Coordinate Activities, but Could Enhance Collaboration. GAO-20-119. Washington, D.C.: December 4, 2019.

7. Individual Retirement Accounts

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS and DOL for review and comment. In their March 2020 responses, IRS and DOL stated that they agreed to formalize collaboration on IRA prohibited transactions. The new information sharing process will be documented in forthcoming DOL procedures. In addition, IRS provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Products

Individual Retirement Accounts: IRS Could Better Inform Taxpayers About and Detect Noncompliance Related to Unconventional Assets, GAO-20-210. Washington, D.C.: January 27, 2020.

Individual Retirement Accounts: Formalizing Labor’s and IRS’s Collaborative Efforts Could Strengthen Oversight of Prohibited Transactions, GAO-19-495. Washington, D.C.: June 7, 2019.

8. IRS Third Party Cybersecurity Practices

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and comment. IRS did not provide comments on this report section.

Related GAO Product

Taxpayer Information: IRS Needs to Improve Oversight of Third Party Cybersecurity Practices. GAO-19-340. Washington, D.C.: May 9, 2019.

9. Tax-Exempt Entities Compliance

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and comment. In February 2020, IRS sent GAO a response saying the agency is working to eliminate conditions that inhibit the agency’s ability to identify abusive tax schemes by evaluating existing database project codes to link data across audit divisions and improve the analysis of data monitoring and mining.

Related GAO Product

Tax-Law Enforcement: IRS Could Better Leverage Existing Data to Identify Abusive Schemes Involving Tax-Exempt Entities. GAO-19-491. Washington, D.C.: September 5, 2019.

10. Public Health and Medical Emergency Response

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for review and comment. HHS commented that ASPR will explore funding opportunities to support an exercise of its federal patient movement framework with its support agencies. In addition, HHS officials stated that ASPR would continue to support interagency liaison officers to provide updates on available resources. While GAO agrees that HHS should continue this practice, the misalignment GAO identified underscores that this was not adequate during the response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Moreover, ASPR officials acknowledged that more needs to be done to better understand the resources available. Finally, HHS commented that ASPR has implemented air transportation contracts to begin decreasing its reliance on DOD. GAO will continue to monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

Related GAO Product

Disaster Response: HHS Should Address Deficiencies Highlighted by Recent Hurricanes in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. GAO-19- 592. Washington, D.C.: September 20, 2019.

11. VA Long-Term Care Fragmentation

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to VA for review and comment. VA provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

VA Health Care: Veterans’ Use of Long-Term Care Is Increasing, and VA Faces Challenges in Meeting the Demand. GAO-20-284. Washington, D.C.: February. 19, 2020.

12. Coast Guard Specialized Forces

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to Coast Guard, through DHS, for review and comment. The Coast Guard, through DHS, provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

The Coast Guard did not agree with the recommendation in its November 2019 response to GAO’s draft report. At that time, DHS further stated that GAO’s conclusions illustrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the corresponding missions of Specialized Forces units. GAO continues to maintain that overlapping capabilities among units could indicate inefficiencies in how units are used as well as missed opportunities for use in others.

In its technical comments provided in March 2020, the Coast Guard indicated that as of February 2020 it had not conducted the analysis necessary to fully identify potential overlap among the units. The Coast Guard stated that it is planning to begin analyzing the units this fiscal year. In line with GAO’s recommendation to analyze potential overlap in capabilities, the Coast Guard should include the cost savings of shutting down a unit from each Specialized Force type and explain the impacts.

Related GAO Product

Coast Guard: Assessing Deployable Specialized Forces’ Workforce Needs Could Improve Efficiency and Reduce Potential Overlap or Gaps in Capabilities. GAO-20-33. Washington, D.C.: November 21, 2019.

13. DHS’s Processes for Apprehended Families

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DHS for review and comment. DHS provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

Southwest Border: Actions Needed to Address Fragmentation in DHS’s Processes for Apprehended Family Members. GAO-20-274. Washington, D.C.: Feb. 19, 2020.

14. National Strategy for Transportation Security

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DHS for review and comment. TSA provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

Transportation Security: DHS Should Communicate the National Strategy’s Alignment with Related Strategies to Guide Federal Efforts. GAO-20-88. Washington, D.C.: November 19, 2019.

15. Surface Transportation Security Training

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DHS for review and comment. DHS officials said DHS has taken initial actions to address GAO’s recommendation, including updating the related Standard Operating Procedure. GAO believes this is a good first step and will continue to monitor the implementation of this recommendation.

Related GAO Product

Surface Transportation: TSA Should Improve Coordination Procedures for Its Security Training Program. GAO-20-185. Washington, D.C.: November 20, 2019.

16. U.S. Assistance to Central America

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to State for review and comment. In its February 2020 response, State did not comment specifically on whether it agreed with GAO’s revised recommendation. However, it reiterated its disagreement with aspects of the underlying GAO report’s objectives, scope, and methodology. GAO addressed this disagreement in detail in its report and maintains that GAO’s approach provided a reliable and reasonably comprehensive review of the results of U.S. assistance to the Northern Triangle toward achieving key U.S. objectives set forth in the Strategy.

Related GAO Product

U.S. Assistance to Central America: Department of State Should Establish a Comprehensive Plan to Assess Progress toward Prosperity, Governance, and Security. GAO-19-590. Washington, D.C.: September 26, 2019.

17. Public Access to Federally Funded Research Results

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to Defense, Energy, and the Departments of Commerce (for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Health and Human Services (for the National Institutes of Health), as well as the National Science Foundation and OSTP for review and comment. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate. OSTP said it had no further comments, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Defense, and Energy did not provide comments.

Related GAO Product

Federal Research: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Public Access to Research Results. GAO-20-81. Washington, D.C.: November 21, 2019.

18. USDA’s Nutrition Education Efforts

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to USDA for review and comment. USDA officials took issue with the characterization of their nutrition education efforts as fragmented, stating that coordination must consider the legislative authority each program has to deliver nutrition education to meet the needs of program target populations and audiences. GAO agrees that a consideration of each program’s legislative authority is important. However, GAO believes that USDA could address the fragmentation GAO identified, which refers to the involvement of multiple USDA agencies and programs in administering the department’s nutrition education efforts, consistent with a consideration of program authority.

USDA officials continue to agree that the department needs to improve coordination of its nutrition education efforts. USDA officials described initial actions the department has taken to address GAO’s recommendation, including establishing a nutrition education working group that represents agencies across the department and planning an intradepartmental workshop that will include a focus on nutrition education. In addition, USDA issued the USDA Science Blueprint to outline the department’s nutrition science implementation strategies and nutrition and health promotion objectives.

GAO will continue to monitor implementation of this recommendation. Further, GAO will monitor the role of the nutrition education working group going forward and consider the extent to which it provides cross- department leadership for USDA’s nutrition education efforts.

Related GAO Product

Nutrition Education: USDA Actions Needed to Assess Effectiveness, Coordinate Programs, and Leverage Expertise. GAO-19-572. Washington, D.C.: July 25, 2019.

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

This appendix summarizes 11 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.

This page is intentionally left blank.

19. Defense Agencies and DOD Field Activities Reform

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and comment. DOD commented that the department will continue to work on improving its monitoring and evaluation of its efficiency and reform initiatives.

Related GAO Product

DOD Needs to Address Inefficiencies and Implement Reform across Its Defense Agencies and DOD Field Activities. GAO-18-592. Washington, D.C.: September 6, 2018.

20. DOD Maintenance Depot Funding

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this section to the DOD for review and comment. DOD did not provide comments on this report section.

Related GAO Product

Depot Maintenance: DOD Should Adopt a Metric That Provides Quality Information on Funded Unfinished Work. GAO-19-452. Washington, D.C.: July 26, 2019.

21. Ginnie Mae’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Program

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to Ginnie Mae for review and comment. Ginnie Mae did not have any comments on the draft but noted that it is working diligently on the recommendations.

Related GAO Product

Ginnie Mae: Risk Management and Staffing-Related Challenges Need to Be Addressed. GAO-19-191. Washington, D.C.: April 3, 2019.

22. IRS Tax Debt Collection Contracts

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation Related GAO Product

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and comment. IRS’s technical comments were incorporated above.

Tax Debt Collection Contracts: IRS Analysis Could Help Improve Program Results and Better Protect Taxpayers. GAO-19-193. Washington, D.C.: March 29, 2019.

23. Virtual Currency Tax Information Reporting

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to IRS for review and comment. In its response, IRS stated that it is working with Treasury on guidance to address third-party reporting on certain taxable transactions involving virtual currency. GAO will review this guidance when it is available.

Related GAO Product

Virtual Currencies: Additional Information Reporting and Clarified Guidance Could Improve Tax Compliance. GAO-20-188. Washington, D.C: February 12, 2020.

24. Medicaid Provider Enrollment

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to CMS for review and comment. In its written comments, CMS provided an update on its actions to address the first recommendation, which GAO incorporated. CMS did not provide information on the second recommendation. GAO will continue to monitor CMS’s implementation of these recommendations.

Related GAO Product

Medicaid Providers: CMS Oversight Should Ensure State Implementation of Screening and Enrollment Requirements. GAO-20-8. Washington, D.C.: October 10, 2019.

25. VA Allocation of Health Care Funding

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to VA for review and comment. VA did not provide comments on this report section.

Related GAO Product

Veterans Health Care: VA Needs to Improve Its Allocation and Monitoring of Funding. GAO-19-670. Washington, D.C.: September 23, 2019.

26. Open Source Software Program

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and comment. DOD explained that current policy allows and encourages the use of open source software where it meets agency needs. In addition, DOD stated that GAO’s recommendations focus on DOD's role as a producer, rather than as a consumer, of open source software. A DOD official explained that it is not reasonable to conclude that the projected savings will result from the implementation of GAO’s recommendations. However, DOD entities can consume open source software that other DOD entities produce. GAO maintains that this very consumption of open source software developed elsewhere in DOD could reduce development costs and potentially produce overall cost savings.

Related GAO Product

Information Technology: DOD Needs to Fully Implement Program for Piloting Open Source Software. GAO-19-457. Washington, D.C.: September 10, 2019.

27. DOD Oversight of Foreign Reimbursements

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for review and comment. DOD did not provide comments on this report section.

Related GAO Product

Defense Logistics Agreement: DOD Should Improve Oversight and Seek Payment from Foreign Partners for Thousands of Orders It Identifies as Overdue. GAO-20-309. Washington, D.C.: March 4, 2020.

28. Drawback Program Modernization

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation

GAO provided a draft of this report section to CBP for review and comment. CBP provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated, as appropriate.

Related GAO Product

Customs and Border Protection: Risk Management for Tariff Refunds Should Be Improved. GAO-20-182. Washington, D.C.: December 17, 2019.

29. Student Loan Income-Driven Repayment Plans

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation Related GAO Product

GAO provided a draft of this report section to Education for review and comment. Education provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated.

Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Verify Borrowers’ Information for Income-Driven Repayment Plans. GAO-19-347. Washington, D.C.: June 25, 2019.

Appendix IV: New Actions Added to Existing Areas

We are adding 88 new actions based on GAO reports that fall within the scope of 10 existing areas identified in prior annual reports.

Navy Shipbuilding

In March 2020, GAO identified 12 actions for the Navy to improve its acquisition practices and ensure ships can be efficiently sustained, potentially saving billions of dollars. addressed, one action has been partially addressed, and one action has not been addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

GAO reported in March 2020 on challenges identifying, evaluating, and mitigating ship sustainment risks during the acquisition process for every new warship class—such as aircraft carriers and submarines—that, if fixed, could save billions of dollars. GAO found 150 examples of systemic maintenance problems, such as failed engines and non-functional plumbing. To correct just 30 percent of these problems, GAO found that it would cost the Navy $4.2 billion. Many of these problems could have been prevented with some attention to future maintenance concerns when designing and building the ships. GAO also found that the Navy underestimated the costs to maintain some ships by $130 billion. GAO made 11 recommendations to help the Navy focus on maintenance earlier and one suggestion to Congress to enhance oversight.

New Actions: GAO recommended in March 2020 that the Department of Defense (DOD) improve its policy for setting sustainment requirements and the Navy then revisit its requirements to comply with the new policy. GAO also recommended that DOD and the Navy take steps to improve sustainment in the acquisition process. GAO also asked Congress to consider developing an oversight mechanism for evaluating shipbuilding programs sustainment cost estimate growth during the acquisition process. While GAO cannot precisely estimate the financial benefits from these actions, if the Navy could eliminate some of the sustainment problems and even 1 percent of the maintenance cost growth GAO identified, it could amount to billions of dollars in savings.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: DOD agreed with eight and partially agreed with three recommendations. GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOD for comment. DOD provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

In September 2019, GAO identified two new actions to improve the Department of the Interior’s valuations of offshore oil and gas resources, each of which could increase the amount of revenue collected by tens of millions of dollars annually. partially addressed, and two actions have not been addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

Production of oil and gas in federal waters generated about $90 billion in revenue from 2006 through 2018 including from industry bids for leasing rights. However, GAO found that the Department of the Interior’s (Interior) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) undervalues federal offshore oil and gas resources, leading it to collect less bid revenue than it otherwise would. Specifically, the bureau (1) forecast unreasonably high levels of depreciation on lease value between lease sales, which lowered bid revenue by about $873 million from March 2000 through June 2018; and (2) adjusted some valuations downward to justify accepting bids, which lowered bid revenue by about $567 million over the same time period.

New Actions: The bureau Director should (1) enlist an independent third party to examine the extent to which the bureau's depreciation forecasts assure the receipt of fair market value, and make changes as appropriate; and (2) take steps to ensure that the bureau’s bid valuation process is not biased toward adjusting valuations downward. In its comments on the report, Interior disagreed with the first recommendation and partially agreed with the second, disagreeing with GAO’s characterization of BOEM’s delayed valuations and valuation process, respectively. GAO maintains that taking each of the recommended actions would better ensure a fair return on the sale of offshore oil and gas leases by better ensuring BOEM’s thresholds for accepting bids are sound and unbiased.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: GAO provided a draft of this report section to Interior for review and comment. In its March 2020 response, Interior indicated that (1) although it disagrees with the first recommendation, it will conduct an in-house review and have it peer-reviewed; and (2) it now agrees with the second recommendation.

In April 2019, GAO identified two actions the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard can take to improve fragmented interagency coordination of lessons learned following disasters. and two actions have been partially addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

GAO found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) had fragmented approaches to identifying interagency challenges and lessons learned related to disaster contracting, resulting in these findings not being communicated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Support Function Leadership Group—the group tasked with identifying interagency lessons learned following disasters. FEMA officials stated that it is up to each agency to elevate issues to the group; however, GAO found that neither USACE nor USCG had formal processes for doing so. Identifying and communicating lessons learned would help better manage fragmentation and enhance agencies’ abilities to address weaknesses in disaster response.

New Actions: To help address fragmentation and ensure that challenges are communicated across departments, GAO recommended in April 2019 that the Secretary of the Army should direct the Commanding General of USACE to, and that the Commandant of USCG should, establish formal processes to solicit input from officials directly involved in the agencies' response and recovery following a disaster and to share that input with the Emergency Support Function Leadership Group.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: USACE and USCG concurred with GAO’s recommendations and planned to implement them this year. GAO provided a draft of this report section to USACE and USCG for review and comment. USCG said it is reviewing lessons learned and the after-action reporting process to update its policy. USACE indicated it updated its guidance to incorporate specific steps to communicate lessons learned with FEMA’s Emergency Support Function Leadership Group and that the guidance would be finalized spring 2020. GAO will continue to monitor the implementation of these recommendations.

In March 2020, GAO identified a new action to improve the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s working capital fund and better position it to achieve over $1 million in previously identified potential annual savings.

Three actions have not been addressed, and one action has been partially addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Working Capital Fund (WCF) provides a mechanism to centralize and fund federal shared services used across offices and agencies within HUD. One of the WCF’s goals is to support the efficient delivery of goods and services. GAO found that HUD does not assess the results of the WCF’s business process analyses, which are used to identify opportunities for efficiencies. For example, these analyses identified actionable ways to reduce high volumes of transactions for certain services, such as calls to help desks to manually reset passwords, which contribute to increased costs. Assessing the results of these analyses would help HUD better understand how the WCF’s efforts contribute to its goal.

New Action: GAO recommended that the Secretary of HUD, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, should ensure that the results of the business process analyses are assessed to better determine how these analyses contribute to its goal of efficient delivery of goods and services. While GAO cannot estimate the potential savings that would result, taking this action could help the WCF achieve over $1 million in potential annual savings already identified by WCF recommendations and to identify additional potential savings.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: GAO provided a draft of this report section to HUD for review and comment. HUD agreed and said it would address this recommendation in 2020, including adding the results of the business process analyses to its performance measures.

In June 2019, GAO identified a new action that could improve oversight of disaster relief funds and long- standing problems of improper payments, which could result in significant cost savings. consolidated, one action has been partially addressed, and two actions have not been addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

Agencies must distribute disaster relief aid quickly following hurricanes, wildfires, or other natural disasters, but quickly spending billions of dollars can increase the risk of improper payments. In June 2019, GAO reported that one of six selected agencies did not submit required internal control plans to Congress for funds appropriated following the 2017 disasters. Of the five agencies that did submit the required plans, four were not timely and all lacked necessary information, such as how they met Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and federal internal control standards. These issues were caused, in part, because OMB lacked an effective strategy for helping agencies develop internal control plans for overseeing these funds.

New Action: GAO recommended in June 2019 that the Director of OMB, after consulting with key stakeholders, should develop a strategy for ensuring that agencies communicate sufficient and timely internal control plans for effective oversight of disaster relief funds.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: OMB disagreed with this recommendation and stated that it does not believe timeliness and sufficiency of internal control plans present material issues that warranted OMB action; however, GAO continues to believe that future internal control plans could serve as a critical transparency tool for controls over disaster funds. GAO provided a draft of this report section to OMB for review and comment. In its response, OMB continued to disagree that this recommendation is needed. GAO believes this action is needed for oversight of disaster funds.

In January 2020, GAO identified three new actions to help the Internal Revenue Service prevent refund fraud associated with identity theft. If implemented, these actions could potentially save millions of dollars. more information.

Business identity theft refund fraud (business IDT) occurs when thieves create, use, or try to use a business’ identifying information to claim a tax refund. Between January 2017 and August 2019, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) fraud detection tools helped prevent $384 million from being paid to fraudsters. However, GAO found IRS could do more to combat business IDT. In January 2020, GAO found that, inconsistent with leading practices, IRS had not designated an entity to design and oversee business IDT fraud risk management efforts, conducted a fraud risk assessment, or developed a fraud risk profile to document the results of its risk assessment. Addressing these issues could help IRS identify and implement more effective controls to detect and prevent business IDT. While GAO cannot precisely estimate the financial benefits associated with this action, even a 1 percent increase in fraud prevention could amount to millions in financial benefits.

New Actions: In January 2020, GAO recommended that consistent with leading practices, IRS (1) designate a dedicated entity to oversee agency-wide business IDT efforts; (2) develop a fraud risk profile for business IDT; and (3) document and implement a strategy for addressing fraud risks identified in its fraud risk profile.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: GAO provided a draft of the January 2020 report to IRS for review and comment. IRS generally agreed, but did not provide details on the actions it plans to take to address these recommendations. IRS also did not provide comments on this report section.

In January 2020, GAO identified a new action to help the Department of Veterans Affairs assess duplication in its medical supply program. partially addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

In January 2020, GAO found that the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program duplicates parts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Federal Supply Schedule program. VA spends billions of dollars annually on procurement of medical supplies to support care for veterans at its 170 medical centers but has not assessed whether its efforts are duplicative. VA procures medical supplies through both its own Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program and through the Federal Supply Schedule program—a government-wide program, parts of which the General Services Administration has long delegated to VA. However, VA has not assessed whether duplication across these programs is necessary or if efficiencies could be gained. GAO cannot estimate the savings that might be associated with this action because such savings will be dependent on whether, when, and how VA takes action.

New Action: GAO recommended that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should take steps to assess duplication between VA’s Medical- Surgical Prime Vendor and Federal Supply Schedule programs to determine if this duplication is necessary or if efficiencies can be gained.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: VA agreed with this recommendation. GAO provided a draft of this report section to VA for review and comment. VA provided technical comments which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

In November 2019, GAO identified two new actions to help reduce the risk of duplicate funding in emergency relief assistance for transit agencies. addressed, two actions have been partially addressed, and one action has not been addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to U.S. public transit facilities. Both the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have the authority to provide disaster assistance funding to transit agencies, but FTA has primary responsibility if it receives an appropriation from Congress for its Public Transportation Emergency Relief program. FTA did not receive an appropriation until roughly 6 months after the first hurricane’s landfall, thus transit agencies could initially apply to FEMA for assistance. In November 2019, GAO found that although FTA and FEMA coordinated efforts, both agencies still approved about $35,000 to one applicant for the same expenses in 2019. While the amount of funding in question was relatively small, without addressing the challenge of identifying transit expenses in FEMA applications, FTA and FEMA will continue to face the risk that both agencies will approve funding for the same expense in the future.

New Actions: GAO recommended in November 2019 that FTA and FEMA identify and develop controls, such as methods to more easily identify transit expenses within applications FEMA receives, to address the risk of duplicate funding.

Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluation: The Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed with this recommendation and outlined steps they plan to take to address it. GAO provided a draft of this report section to DOT and DHS for review and comment. DOT said it did not have comments on this report section. DHS provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.

In April 2019, GAO identified 28 new actions to help agencies save millions of dollars through better planning and implementation of cloud-based computing solutions.

Two actions have been addressed.

See the Action Tracker for more information including applicable agencies.

Beginning in 2012, federal agencies were required to assess all IT investments for cloud computing services, and from 2014 to 2018, agencies reported $291 million in cloud-related savings. For example, agencies reported saving as much as $15 million migrating email systems to cloud services. However, GAO reported that 12 of the 16 agencies reviewed had not completed their assessments and that savings data were unavailable for 84 percent of the 488 cloud investments reviewed. Improving the assessment of investments for cloud services and tracking related savings can help agencies make better decisions regarding cloud acquisitions and potentially save millions of dollars from implementing cloud services.

New actions: GAO made 28 recommendations in April 2019 to all 16 agencies, including that (1) 12 agencies should complete an assessment of all of their IT investments for suitability for migration to a cloud computing service, in accordance with OMB guidance; and (2) 16 agencies should ensure that their respective Chief Information Officers establish a consistent and repeatable mechanism to track savings and cost avoidances from the migration and deployment of cloud services. Fourteen agencies agreed with all recommendations, the Department of the Treasury neither agreed nor disagreed, and the Department of Defense agreed with the recommendation on completing assessments, but not with the recommendation on tracking savings.

Agency comments and GAO’s evaluation: GAO provided a draft of this report section to the 16 agencies for review and comment. One agency agreed, 13 agencies had no comments, and two neither agreed nor disagreed. Additionally, seven of the 16 agencies are taking actions to address GAO’s recommendations.

In April 2019, GAO identified 36 new actions to help federal agencies meet the Office of Management and Budget’s data center consolidation and optimization goals, resulting potentially in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings. original two actions in this area.

See the Action Tracker for more information.

Federal agencies operate thousands of data centers and, since 2010, have been required to close unneeded facilities and improve the performance of the remaining centers. This effort is currently known as the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI). Since 2010, agencies have closed 6,250 centers and reported $4.2 billion in savings. However, only two of 24 agencies in GAO’s review planned to fully meet the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) September 2018 government-wide optimization goals, such as determining how much time data servers sit unused and how effectively data centers use power.

New actions: GAO made 36 recommendations in April 2019 to 22 of the 24 agencies in its review, including that (1) 11 agencies should meet DCOI’s data center closure targets; (2) four agencies should meet DCOI’s data center-related cost savings targets and one should identify additional cost savings opportunities; and (3) 20 agencies should meet DCOI’s data center optimization metric targets. While GAO cannot precisely estimate the potential savings of taking these actions, combined estimates from agencies for similar prior actions exceeded $100 million per year, suggesting potential for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional savings over time. In June 2019, OMB significantly revised DCOI’s goals and performance measures and GAO continues to monitor agencies’ progress against these new targets.

Agency comments and GAO’s evaluation: GAO provided a draft of this report section to 22 agencies for review and comment. Two agencies agreed, seven neither agreed nor disagreed, and 13 agencies had no comments. Additionally, two agencies have taken action to fully address the recommendations and the remaining 20 agencies are taking actions to address GAO’s recommendations.

In our 2011 to 2020 annual reports, we directed 110 actions to Congress, of which 58 remain open. Thirty-five have been addressed and 17 were closed as not addressed or consolidated. Of the 58 open congressional actions, 15 are partially addressed and 43 are not addressed, as of March 2020 (see figure 10).

The tables below have more information on the 58 open congressional actions. Our Action Tracker downloadable spreadsheet (available in XLSX or CSV formats) has information on all actions.

Appendix VI: Additional Information on Programs Identified

This appendix provides additional information on the federal programs or other activities related to the new areas of fragmentation, overlap, duplication, cost savings, or 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 and available data for the most recent fiscal year or we 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 the limitations described above, the budgetary information reported in this appendix should not be totaled and does not represent potential cost savings for all programs.