OMB Circular A-126 sets forth executive branch policy with respect to the management and use of government aviation assets. The purpose of the circular is to minimize cost and improve the management of government aircraft. The circular provides that government aircraft must be operated only for official purposes. Under the circular, there are three kinds of official travel: Travel to meet mission requirements: Mission requirements are defined as “activities that constitute the discharge of an agency’s official responsibilities,” and the circular provides examples of these kinds of activities. For purposes of the circular, mission requirements do not include official travel to give speeches, attend conferences or meetings, or make routine site visits. Required use travel: Agencies are permitted to use government aircraft for nonmission travel where it is required use travel—which is travel that requires the use of government aircraft to meet bona fide communications needs, security requirements, or exceptional scheduling requirements of an executive agency. Other travel for the conduct of agency business: Government aircraft are also available for other travel for the conduct of agency business when no commercial airline or aircraft is reasonably available to fulfill the agency requirement or the actual cost of using a government aircraft is not more than the cost of using commercial airline or aircraft service. In addition to other requirements for federal agencies, the circular directs agencies that use government aircraft to report semiannually to GSA each use of such aircraft for nonmission travel by senior federal officials, members of the families of such officials, and any nonfederal travelers, with certain exceptions. The circular provides that the format of the report is to be specified by GSA, but must list all travel during the preceding 6-month period and include the following information: the name of each such traveler, the official purpose of the trip, and the destination(s), among other things. The circular provides for one exception to these reporting requirements: Agencies using the aircraft are not required to report classified trips to GSA, but must maintain information on those trips for a period of 2 years and have the data available for review as authorized. In addition, in a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies and employees of the Executive Office of the President, the President specifically directed that “all use of Government aircraft by senior executive branch officials shall be documented and such documentation shall be disclosed to the public upon request unless classified.” The OMB bulletin implementing this memorandum explains that “it is imperative that we not spend hard-earned tax dollars in ways that may appear to be improper.” GSA has issued regulations applicable to federal aviation activities. The FTR implements statutory requirements and executive branch policies for travel by federal civilian employees and others authorized to travel at government expense. The FMR generally pertains to the management of federal property and includes a specific part on management of government aircraft. As shown in table 1, the FTR specifically exempts from reporting trips that are classified, but does not contain any exemption for reporting by intelligence agencies. In contrast, the FMR states that intelligence agencies are exempt from the requirement to report to GSA on government aircraft. According to senior GSA officials, although the exemption for intelligence agencies is contained in the FMR—which largely deals with the management of federal property—it applies to reporting requirements in the FTR for senior federal officials who travel on government aircraft. Through issued executive branch documents, agencies are required to provide data about senior federal official nonmission travel—except for classified trips—to GSA, and GSA has been directed to collect this specified information. Accordingly, through its regulations, GSA has directed agencies to report required information on senior federal official travel; however, its regulations allow certain trips not to be reported, in addition to classified trips. Specifically, GSA exempted intelligence agencies from reporting any information on senior federal travel on government aircraft regardless of whether it is classified or unclassified. This is inconsistent with executive branch requirements we indentified. GSA has not articulated a basis—specifically, a source of authority or rationale—that would allow it to deviate from collecting what it has been directed to collect by the President and OMB. This could undermine the purposes of these requirements, which include aiding in the oversight of the use of government aircraft and helping to ensure that government aircraft are not used for nongovernmental purposes. Further, GSA officials stated that it is the agency’s practice to implement regulations that do not introduce real or potential conflicts with other authorities. According to GSA senior officials, the agency is unable to identify the specific historical analysis for inclusion of the intelligence agencies’ reporting exemption in the FMR. GSA added the exemption for intelligence agency reporting of information on government aircraft to the FMR in 2002; however, there is no explanation for the inclusion of the exemption in the regulation or implementing rule. GSA senior officials told us that the exemption for intelligence agencies enabled intelligence agencies to comply with Executive Order 12333, which requires the heads of departments and agencies with organizations in the intelligence community or the heads of such organizations, as appropriate, to “protect intelligence and intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure with guidance from the Director of Central Intelligence.” However, GSA has not articulated how an exemption for senior federal official travel data for nonmission purposes is necessary for agencies to Identifying an adequate basis for comply with Executive Order 12333.the intelligence agency reporting exemption or removing the exemption from its regulations if an adequate basis cannot be identified could help GSA ensure its regulations for senior federal official travel comply with executive branch requirements. GSA aggregates the data reported by agencies on senior federal travel to produce publically available reports describing the use of government aircraft by senior federal officials and how government aircraft are used to support agency missions. Specifically, these Senior Federal Travel Reports provide analysis on the number of trips taken by senior federal officials, the costs of such trips, the number of agencies reporting, and the number and costs of trips taken by cost justification. The reports also list those departments, agencies, bureaus, or services that report no use of senior federal official travel during the reporting time frame. According to the reports, they are intended to provide transparency and better management and control of senior federal official use of government aircraft and the ability to examine costs as they relate to trip use justifications. Specifically, according to the FBI, the exemption contained in FMR § 102-33.385 applies to all data on government aircraft stated in FMR § 102-33.390, which includes senior federal travel information. The FBI also determined that the exemption applies to all of the FBI, not just the intelligence elements, and includes all flights, both mission and nonmission. did not indicate that additional flights may have been omitted on the basis of GSA’s exemption for intelligence agencies. GSA senior officials told us that they cannot identify which organizations, components, or offices of departments or agencies within the intelligence community do not report senior federal official travel data to GSA. These officials stated that this is because they do not distinguish between instances where an agency reports no information because the agency is invoking the exemption and instances where the agency reports no information for some other reason, such as that no flights were taken on agency aircraft. Asking agencies to identify instances where they are invoking the exemption would better position GSA to collect and report on this information. Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government calls for agencies to establish controls, such as those provided through policies and procedures, to provide reasonable assurance that agencies and operations comply with applicable laws and regulations. These standards also call for the accurate and timely recording of transactions and events to help ensure that all transactions are completely and accurately recorded, as well as for an agency to have relevant, reliable, and timely Further, GSA officials stated that it could be possible communications. to obtain follow-up information from agencies that did not provide travel data in order to determine why agencies had not reported data. Collecting additional information on which agencies are invoking the exemption and including such information in its reports could help ensure more complete reporting on the use of government aircraft, which could help provide GSA with reasonable assurance that its Federal Official Travel Reports are accurate and also provide the public a more comprehensive understanding of these trips. departments and agencies, the only exception for the reporting of this kind of travel is for classified trips. However, GSA has established an exception to these reporting requirements that is inconsistent with the executive branch requirements that gave GSA authority to collect senior federal travel data. GSA has not identified the basis—specifically, a source of authority or rationale—for this exemption as applied to senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes that would allow for it to deviate from executive branch specifications. Identifying an adequate basis for the intelligence agency reporting exemption or removing the exemption from its regulations if an adequate basis cannot be identified could help GSA ensure its regulations for senior federal official travel comply with executive branch requirements. In addition, collecting additional information on which agencies or organizations within the federal government are utilizing this exemption, and including such information in its Senior Federal Travel Reports, could help provide GSA with reasonable assurance that its published reports using these data are accurate. We recommend that the Administrator of GSA take the following two actions: To help ensure that GSA regulations comply with applicable executive branch requirements, identify an adequate basis for any exemption that allows intelligence agencies not to report to GSA unclassified data on senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes. If GSA cannot identify an adequate basis for the exemption, GSA should remove the exemption from its regulations. To help ensure the accuracy of its Senior Federal Official Travel Reports, collect additional information from agencies on instances where travel is not being reported because of an exemption for intelligence agencies, as opposed to some other reason, and include such information in its reports where departmental data do not include trips pursuant to an agency’s exercise of a reporting exemption. We provided a draft of this report to GSA for review and comment. GSA provided written comments which are reprinted in appendix I and summarized below. In commenting on our report, GSA concurred with both of the recommendations and identified actions to address them. In response to our recommendation that GSA identify an adequate basis for the intelligence agency exemption as applied to senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes, or remove it from its regulations, GSA stated that it will remove the exemption. Specifically, GSA stated that it will remove section 102.33.390(b) in Subpart E of the FMR, "Reporting Information on Government Aircraft.” This action will remove the reporting requirement related to senior federal official travel from the FMR and such reporting will continue to be governed by the FTR. As a consequence, the exemption for intelligence agencies, which is only contained in the FMR, will no longer be applicable to unclassified data on senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes. In response to our recommendation that GSA collect and report additional information from agencies on instances where travel is not being reported because of an exemption for intelligence agencies, GSA stated that it will add indicator data elements for agencies to identify when classified data is withheld from the senior federal official travel data they submit to GSA. These actions, when fully implemented, will address both of our recommendations. As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send copies to the Attorney General and other interested parties. This report will also be available at no charge on GAO’s website at http://www.gao.gov. If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-9627 or maurerd@gao.gov. Contact points for our Office of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in appendix II. In addition to the contact named above, Chris Currie, Assistant Director; Chris Ferencik, Analyst in Charge; Janet Temko, Senior Attorney; and Mary Catherine Hult made significant contributions to the work.

Summary: The federal government owns or leases over 1,700 aircraft to accomplish a wide variety of missions. Federal agencies are generally required to report trips taken by senior federal officials on their aircraft to GSA unless the trips are classified pursuant to executive branch requirements. In February 2013, GAO reported on DOJ senior executives' use of DOJ aviation assets for nonmission purposes for fiscal years 2007 through 2011. GAO identified several issues with respect to the implementation of a provision of GSA regulations that exempts intelligence agencies from reporting information about government aircraft to GSA and that provision's application to unclassified data on senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes. GAO was asked to review GSA's oversight of executives' use of government aircraft for nonmission purposes. This report addresses the extent to which (1) GSA's reporting exemption for intelligence agencies is consistent with executive branch requirements and (2) GSA ensures the accuracy of its reporting on the use of government aircraft by senior federal officials. GAO reviewed relevant executive branch requirements and GSA regulations, as well as data submitted by DOJ to GSA on trips taken by senior federal officials on DOJ aircraft and interviewed GSA officials. The exemption in General Services Administration (GSA) regulations that allows intelligence agencies not to report unclassified data on senior federal official travel for nonmission purposes is not consistent with executive branch requirements, and GSA has not provided a basis for deviating from these requirements. Specifically, executive branch documents—including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-126, OMB Bulletin 93-11, and a 1993 presidential memorandum to the heads of all executive departments and agencies—require agencies to report to GSA, and for GSA to collect data, on senior federal official travel on government aircraft for nonmission purposes, except for trips that are classified. As a result, GSA is not collecting all specified unclassified data as directed, and GSA has not provided a basis for deviating from executive branch requirements. Identifying an adequate basis for the intelligence agency reporting exemption or removing the exemption from its regulations if a basis cannot be identified could help GSA ensure its regulations for senior federal official travel comply with executive branch requirements. GSA aggregates data on senior federal official travel to create publically available Senior Federal Official Travel Reports that, among other things, provide transparency of senior federal officials' use of government aircraft. However, GSA does not determine which agencies' travel is not reported under the exemption for intelligence agencies. For example, in February 2013 GAO found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—which is a member of the intelligence community—did not report to GSA, based on the intelligence agency exemption, information for 395 unclassified nonmission flights taken by the Attorney General, FBI Director, and other Department of Justice (DOJ) executives from fiscal years 2009 through 2011. However, GSA's Senior Federal Official Travel Reports GAO reviewed for those years provided information on flights for other DOJ components but did not indicate that additional flights may have been omitted on the basis of GSA's exemption for intelligence agencies. GSA senior officials stated that they do not collect this information because they do not distinguish between instances where an agency reports no information because it is invoking the exemption or some other reason, such as that no flights were taken on its aircraft. However, these officials also stated that it could be possible to obtain follow-up information from agencies that did not provide travel data in order to determine why agencies had not reported data. Consistent with Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government , if GSA collected additional information from agencies on instances where nonmission travel was not reported because of the exemption for intelligence agencies, as opposed to some other reason, and included such information in its reports, it could help GSA ensure the accuracy of its Senior Federal Official Travel Reports. GAO recommends that GSA identify the basis of its reporting exemption, and collect additional information when travel is not being reported. GSA concurred and identified actions to address our recommendations.