Potential Candidates for Congressional Oversight
OCG-00-3R: Published: Nov 1, 1999. Publicly Released: Nov 1, 1999.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided a list of federal government programs, activities, and facilities for review by a series of bipartisan congressional task forces for possible termination, reduction, deferral, or reform.
GAO noted that: (1) GAO was asked to identify oversight themes suggested by those candidates that could serve as the basis for congress' prospective bipartisan task forces; (2) the candidates reflect the need to reconsider what government does, how it does it, and who benefits from such government activities; (3) reassessing what the federal government does addresses the basic purpose(s) and objective(s) of any federal entity or program; (4) GAO identified federal activities where conditions originally prompting the activity's establishment have changed or where the cost/benefit of the program is questionable; (5) Congress originally defines the intended beneficiaries for any federal program or service based on certain perceptions of eligibility or need; (6) periodic oversight can be an effective means to ensure that limited resources remain properly targeted, in light of changing conditions, available resources, program operations, and overall congressional priorities; (7) many of GAO's options identify inefficient federal operations stemming from such problems as costly fragmentation and possible duplication in missions, facilities and programs, or the failure to weed out excessive administrative structures and costs; (8) in many cases, civilian agencies' physical locations and delivery structures have remained unchanged for decades, notwithstanding recent downsizing in most agencies, advances in communications and information processing technologies, and changes in the intended recipients of federal programs and activities; (9) the narratives GAO provided for each candidate include references to related GAO reports and testimonies and a principal GAO contact for each suggested candidate; (10) the narratives are intended to provide: (a) a clear and concise description of underlying concerns and challenges, which are more fully developed in the key findings of referenced GAO reports and testimonies; and (b) one possible approach, within a budgetary context, to address these concerns; and (11) GAO has focused on specific programs, projects, activities, or facilities and have not addressed governmentwide concerns.
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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