Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits
Released: 2017-04-26T00:00:00

Letter

Congress and Executive Branch Agencies Continue to Address Actions that Span the Federal Government

As shown in figure 2, Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress in addressing or partially addressing many actions we identified from 2011 to 2016. As of March 2017, 82 percent of the 645 total actions we had identified since 2011 have been addressed or partially addressed. See our online Action Tracker for the status of all actions.

Benefits Related to Actions taken by Congress and Executive Branch Agencies

Congress and executive branch agencies have addressed 329 (51 percent) of the 645 actions we identified from 2011 to 2016 (see table 3). We found that these efforts have resulted in roughly $136 billion in financial benefits—$75 billion from 2010 through 2016, with at least an additional $61 billion in estimated benefits projected to be accrued in future years.

The progress Congress and executive branch agencies have made in addressing our open actions has resulted in significant financial benefits. Table 4 highlights examples of these results.

Congress has also implemented a number of key government-wide statutory requirements in recent years that could help identify areas of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication, or help address issues we raise in this report, including the following:

The Program Management Improvement Accountability Act.

The act seeks to improve program and project management in certain federal agencies. Among other things, the act requires the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to adopt and oversee implementation of government-wide standards, policies, and guidelines for program and project management in executive agencies. It further creates a Program Management Policy Council to act as an interagency forum for improving practices related to program and project management. This interagency collaboration and strengthened program management could help reduce fragmentation, overlap, and duplication among federal agencies.

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). The DATA Act expands on previous federal transparency requirements to link federal agency spending to federal program activities so that taxpayers and policymakers can more effectively track federal spending. Full and effective implementation of the act offers the promise of a much more complete and accurate understanding of federal spending by enabling—for the first time—the federal government as a whole to track these funds at multiple points in the federal spending life cycle, and significantly increasing the types and transparency of data available to Congress, agencies, and the general public. In what will be the first reporting of data in compliance with the act’s requirements, agencies must submit second-quarter fiscal year 2017 data in compliance with the act’s requirements for inclusion on USASpending.gov in May 2017. This information could potentially help identify areas of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication.

Information Technology (IT) acquisition reform, known as the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). The effective and efficient acquisition and management of IT investments has been a long-standing challenge in the federal government. FITARA holds promise for improving agencies’ acquisition of IT and enabling Congress to monitor agencies’ progress and hold them accountable for reducing duplication and achieving cost savings. FITARA includes several specific requirements related to existing areas in our fragmentation, overlap, and duplication work, such as implementing the federal data-center consolidation initiative, enhancing transparency, improving risk management, and maximizing the benefits of government-wide software purchasing and the federal strategic sourcing initiative.

The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA). Improper payments are a long-standing, widespread, and significant problem in the federal government— totaling over $1.2 trillion since reporting requirements first began at some agencies in 2003. IPERIA requires agencies to ensure that a thorough review of available databases occurs prior to the release of federal funds. We have identified numerous actions to reduce improper payments in several areas, such as Medicare improper payments, Medicaid improper payments, and refundable tax credits.

Action on Remaining and New Areas Could Yield Significant Additional Benefits

While Congress and executive branch agencies have made progress toward addressing the 724 total actions we have identified since 2011, further steps are needed to fully address the 395 actions that remain open (i.e., partially or not addressed). We estimate that tens of billions of dollars in additional financial benefits could be realized should Congress and executive branch agencies fully address open actions. In addition to producing financial benefits, these actions make government more efficient; improve major government programs or agencies; reduce mismanagement, fraud, waste, and abuse; and increase assurance that programs comply with laws and funds are legally spent.

Significant Open Actions Directed to Congress

Congress has used our work to identify legislative solutions to achieve cost savings, address emerging problems, and find efficiencies in federal agencies and programs. Our work has contributed to a number of key authorizations and appropriations. Congressional oversight has been critical in realizing the full benefits of our suggested actions, and it will continue to be critical in the future. In our 2011 to 2017 annual reports, we directed 97 actions to Congress, including 2 new congressional actions we identified in 2017. Of the 97 actions, 61 remained open (9 were partially addressed and 52 were not addressed) as of March 2017. Table 5 highlights areas with significant open actions directed to Congress.

Significant Open Actions Directed to Executive Branch Agencies

In our 2011 to 2017 annual reports, we directed 627 actions to executive branch agencies, including 77 new actions identified in 2017. Of the 627 actions, over half—334—remained open (192 were partially addressed and 142 were not addressed) as of March 2017. While these open actions span the government, a substantial number of actions are directed to seven agencies that made up 84 percent—$3.6 trillion—of federal outlays in fiscal year 2016; see figure 3.

As shown in figure 4, 10 agencies have at least 20 open actions.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 168 actions to the Department of Defense (DOD) in areas that contribute to DOD’s effectiveness in providing the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States. As of March 2017, 95 of these 168 actions remained open. DOD represented about 15 percent of federal spending in fiscal year 2016, with outlays totaling about $637.6 billion. Our work suggests that effectively implementing our open actions, including those related to areas listed in table 6, could yield substantial financial benefits.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 98 actions to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in areas that contribute to HHS’s mission to enhance the health and well-being of Americans. HHS administers Medicare, which in fiscal year 2016 financed health services for over 57 million beneficiaries at an estimated cost of $696 billion. HHS also administers Medicaid, which covered an estimated 72.2 million low- income people in fiscal year 2016 at a cost of $575.9 billion. HHS represents about 28 percent of the fiscal year 2016 federal budget, with outlays totaling about $1.2 trillion. As of March 2017, 56 of HHS’s 98 actions remained open. Our work suggests that effectively implementing these actions, such as those related to areas listed in table 7, could yield substantial financial benefits.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 83 actions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in areas that contribute to effectively and efficiently providing quality service to taxpayers and enforcing the law with integrity and fairness to all. As of March 2017, 43 of these 83 actions remained open. The funding of the federal government depends largely upon IRS’s ability to collect taxes—in fiscal year 2016, IRS collected about $3.3 trillion. Our work suggests that effective implementation of our open actions, such as those related to areas listed in table 8, could substantially increase revenues and result in other financial benefits.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 78 actions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in areas that contribute to the effective implementation of its mission to, among other things, prevent terrorist attacks from occurring within the United States, reduce U.S. vulnerability to terrorism, and help the nation recover from any attacks that may occur. In fiscal year 2016, DHS spent about $57.6 billion, about 1.3 percent of federal outlays. As of March 2017, 37 of the 78 actions to DHS remained open. Fully implementing these actions, such as those related to areas listed in table 9, could result in financial benefits and substantial improvements in operations.

Many of the results the federal government seeks to achieve require the coordinated effort of more than one federal agency, level of government, or sector. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) manages and coordinates many government-wide efforts. In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 64 actions to OMB in areas to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government-wide programs and activities. As of March 2017, 34 of the 64 actions to OMB remained open. Fully implementing these actions, such as those related to areas listed in table 10, could yield substantial financial benefits and program improvements.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 28 actions to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in areas that contribute to SSA providing financial assistance to eligible individuals through Social Security retirement and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. As of March 2017, 25 of these 28 actions remained open. In fiscal year 2016, SSA spent about $979.7 billion, roughly 23 percent of federal outlays. While most of SSA’s funding is used to pay Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, our work suggests that effective implementation of these actions, such as the examples listed in table 11, could yield substantial benefits.

In our 2011 to 2017 reports, we directed 44 actions to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in areas that contribute to VA effectively and efficiently achieving its mission to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of all veterans by ensuring that they receive medical care, benefits, and social support. As of March 2017, 24 of these 44 actions remained open. In fiscal year 2016, VA spent about $179.6 billion—about 4 percent of federal outlays—for veterans’ benefits and services. Our work suggests that effective implementation of these actions, such as those related to areas listed in table 12, could yield cost savings and efficiencies that would improve the delivery of services.

We will continue 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. We stand ready to assist this and other committees in further analyzing the issues we have identified and evaluating potential solutions.

Thank you, Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the Committee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to answer questions.

GAO Contacts

For further information on this testimony or our April 26, 2017 report, please contact J. Christopher Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov, and Jessica Lucas-Judy, Acting Director, Strategic Issues, who may be reached at (202) 512-9110 or lucasjudyj@gao.gov. Contact points for the individual areas listed in our 2017 annual report can be found at the end of each area in GAO-17-491SP. Contact points for our Congressional Relations and Public Affairs offices may be found on the last page of this statement.

Appendix I: Open Congressional Actions, by Mission

In our 2011 to 2017 annual reports, we directed 97 actions to Congress, of which 61 remain open. Of the 61 open congressional actions, 9 are partially addressed and 52 are not addressed, as of March 1, 2017. See table 13.