Better Evaluations Needed to Weed Out Useless Federal Advisory Committees
GGD-76-104: Published: Apr 7, 1977. Publicly Released: Apr 7, 1977.
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Legislation to control the growing number of advisory committees, 1267 as of December 31, 1975, assigned oversight responsibilities to Congress, the President, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB is required to make an annual comprehensive review of each committee to determine whether it has carried out its purpose, needs revised responsibilities, or should be merged or abolished.
The OMB and agencies have had a difficult time identifying useless committees because they have not developed objective criteria. Because of lack of leadership by OMB, the agencies have developed their own approaches. Uncertainties existed within agencies about the status of subgroups and ad hoc groups, cost analyses, reporting procedures, and committee missions.
Mar 2, 2021
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High-Risk Series:
Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk AreasGAO-21-119SP: Published: Mar 2, 2021. Publicly Released: Mar 2, 2021. -
High-Risk Series:
Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk AreasGAO-21-383T: Published: Mar 2, 2021. Publicly Released: Mar 2, 2021. -
High-Risk Series:
Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk AreasGAO-21-384T: Published: Mar 2, 2021. Publicly Released: Mar 2, 2021.
Feb 3, 2021
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Fixed-Price-Incentive Contracts:
DOD Has Increased Their Use but Should Assess Contributions to OutcomesGAO-21-181: Published: Feb 3, 2021. Publicly Released: Feb 3, 2021.
Jan 29, 2021
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Federal Real Property:
Additional Documentation of Decision Making Could Improve Transparency of New Disposal ProcessGAO-21-233: Published: Jan 29, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 29, 2021.
Jan 19, 2021
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Federal Rulemaking:
Selected EPA and HHS Regulatory Analyses Met Several Best Practices, but CMS Should Take Steps to Strengthen Its AnalysesGAO-21-151: Published: Dec 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 19, 2021.
Jan 13, 2021
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Department of Energy Contracting:
Improvements Needed to Ensure DOE Assesses Its Full Range of Contracting Fraud RisksGAO-21-44: Published: Jan 13, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 13, 2021.
Dec 16, 2020
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Data Governance:
Agencies Made Progress in Establishing Governance, but Need to Address Key MilestonesGAO-21-152: Published: Dec 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2020.
Dec 9, 2020
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2020 Census:
The Bureau Concluded Field Work but Uncertainty about Data Quality, Accuracy, and Protection RemainsGAO-21-206R: Published: Dec 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2020.
Dec 3, 2020
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2020 Census:
Census Bureau Needs to Assess Data Quality Concerns Stemming from Recent Design ChangesGAO-21-142: Published: Dec 3, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 3, 2020.
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