Reports & Testimonies

Each year, thousands of federal employees change their legal name for reasons including marriage, divorce, or personal preference. We looked at the process for federal employees to make this change and whether selected agencies followed Office of Personnel Management guidance. We found that while these agencies have procedures in place to handle name changes, employees still found the process challenging because they didn’t have clear...

This Q&A discusses how people are put on the U.S. terrorist watchlist and redress options for those who say they were mistakenly added. Federal agencies use the list to share information about people who may pose terrorist threats. People may be added if they are—or are associated with—known or suspected terrorists. But people may also be misidentified as someone else who is on the list...

Companies or people may choose to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by purchasing carbon credits through voluntary carbon markets. The credits are generated from projects meant to reduce or remove emissions, such as planting forests. However, stakeholders have raised concerns about whether carbon credits produce the environmental benefits they claim. Overall, the federal government plays a small role in such...

Natural disasters can disrupt local drinking water and wastewater services. The Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and U.S. Department of Agriculture have given billions in grants and loans to make community water infrastructure more resilient. But rural, low-income, and other vulnerable communities struggle to get access to this funding. Agencies have taken some steps to address this but could do more. Also, maps...

Tenant screening, rent setting, advertising, and other rental housing activities are increasingly done with digital tools. These may include algorithms and artificial intelligence—raising concerns about potential discrimination and more. We examined the benefits and risks of these tools and federal oversight of them. For example, using facial recognition technology for apartment building access can offer security, but poses privacy risks. Federal agencies have done some...

Adopting a child can be expensive, but many taxpayers can claim a credit for adoption on their taxes. In some cases, taxpayers can get the full credit even if they didn’t pay that much in qualified expenses. We found that IRS’s messages about the credit are not clear or consistent. Also, IRS doesn’t reach out to key adoption stakeholders, such as state adoption agencies, with...

In recent years, some shoppers have noticed they’re paying the same or more for a smaller amount of their favorite household products—known as “shrinkflation.” For example, a pint of ice cream (16 fluid oz.) might now be 14 fluid oz. Subtle package changes can make it hard to detect. While shrinkflation increases prices, its effect on inflation is small because most spending is on things...

Federal employee whistleblowers can help fight fraud, waste, and abuse, so laws protect them from retaliation, such as demotion and firing. For Department of Veterans Affairs employees, the Office of Special Counsel—an independent agency—and an office within VA both investigate retaliation against whistleblowers. But VA doesn’t track all actions taken to protect whistleblowers after retaliation. This incomplete record makes it hard to determine if the...

Staying in business can be hard for dairy farmers if cattle feed prices go up or milk prices fall. But they can get help by signing up for a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that gives financial support in these circumstances. The program paid farmers about $2.7 billion from 2019 to 2024. The percentage of farmers who participated in each state varied, and most had...

In this final comprehensive COVID-19 report, we provided updates to our work regarding the impact of the pandemic on public health, the economy, and federal spending. Our work on the COVID-19 pandemic has produced over 200 reports and 484 recommendations to the Congress and federal agencies. More than half of the recommendations have been implemented. This body of work has yielded at least $43.9 billion...

The Department of Veterans Affairs runs 300 Vet Centers nationwide that provide counseling services to military veterans and servicemembers. We previously reported on how VA assesses Vet Center counselors’ productivity. In this Q&A, we looked at VA’s staff survey on how productivity expectations may have affected care. We found that some parts of the survey were unclear, such as a question that didn’t specify whether...

Burning waste outside emits toxins into the air that can be harmful. The military burned waste in Vietnam. Many worry that the toxins released have led to long-term health problems. The Department of Veterans Affairs hasn’t researched whether there is a link between Vietnam veterans’ health issues and exposure. VA’s reviews of available data haven’t indicated that exposure was a major contributor. VA said additional...

Chemicals called per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances—PFAS—have been found in water and are associated with health risks like cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a regulation setting maximum levels for some PFAS in drinking water. EPA was required to estimate the costs of the regulation. The quality of EPA’s cost analysis is being challenged in court. Due to the litigation, this Q&A report focused on whether...

Using illicit drugs and misusing prescription drugs have been persistent issues in the U.S., causing over 100,000 deaths a year from 2021-2023. We convened a forum with 12 experts to discuss developing and evaluating media campaigns intended to prevent drug misuse. The experts said that, to create campaigns, people should: Identify, understand, and target the audience they intend to reach Select messengers and delivery methods...