Government Performance Management: Implementing GAO's Recommendations Would Help OMB Address Crosscutting Challenges

What GAO Found

Many of the meaningful results the federal government seeks to achieve, such as providing homeland security and cybersecurity, are crosscutting in nature. Achieving results in these areas requires the coordinated efforts of more than one federal agency, level of government, or sector. The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA) updated the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) to create a more integrated, crosscutting performance planning and reporting framework to support the federal government’s achievement of results.

GPRAMA requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to work with federal agencies to develop cross-agency priority (CAP) goals, 4-year outcome-oriented goals that address crosscutting mission areas as well as management challenges. GAO issued three reports on the 2022-2025 CAP goals, which included six recommendations to improve their implementation. Two of the six recommendations, both related to transparent reporting on CAP goal progress, have been implemented. Addressing the remaining recommendations would help ensure that future CAP goals are timely, address required management areas—such as IT—and are defined to allow assessment over time.

Agencies and OMB have implemented most recommendations GAO made related to GPRAMA implementation since the law was enacted. Through their efforts, OMB and agencies have made greater use of performance information in decision-making, created clearer definitions of performance goals and responsibilities, and enhanced transparency through more consistent public reporting.

Figure: Status of GAO Recommendations Related to Implementation of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 from Fiscal Years 2012 to 2025, as of July 2025

Notes: Recommendations categorized as “Closed – not implemented” are those for which the intent has not been satisfied, but time or circumstances have rendered the recommendation no longer valid. Recommendations categorized as “Open – partially addressed” are those for which actions have been taken that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation.

OMB has yet to fully implement 18, more than one quarter of GAO’s 61 recommendations. Fifteen relate to crosscutting issues, such as efforts to create an inventory of federal programs. The remainder involve efforts to increase federal transparency and the improved use of performance information. Implementing the open recommendations would help OMB improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal agencies, programs, and activities.

Why GAO Did This Study

The performance and planning framework originally put into place by GPRA and enhanced by GPRAMA provides important tools that can help decision makers address challenges facing the federal government.

GPRAMA includes a provision for GAO to periodically assess the act’s implementation, including the CAP goals. This report, GAO’s fifth periodic review of GPRAMA’s implementation, (1) discusses GAO’s prior work on the implementation of CAP goals from 2022 to 2025; and (2) examines progress made in implementing GAO’s past GPRAMA recommendations.

GAO summarized three reports related to CAP goals issued during the 2022-2025 timeframe. GAO also reviewed related prior work and actions OMB and other federal agencies have taken to implement recommendations made since GPRAMA was enacted.