Recommendations for Congress: Action Can Produce Tens of Billions of Dollars in Future Financial and Other Benefits
Fast Facts
In this Q&A, we report on our recommendations to Congress—our "matters for congressional consideration" to save money and improve federal programs. Since 2000, Congress has acted on 573 matters, making improvements in energy, health, and income security.
As of March 2025, 272 matters remained open, but recently proposed legislation would partially or fully address about one-third of those.
Thirty-one open matters have estimated financial benefits, including about $157 billion from one. Implementing others could provide benefits, such as making government programs more efficient or effective.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Matters for congressional consideration are recommendations that GAO makes to Congress to address findings from GAO’s work. Since 2000, GAO has recommended that Congress consider more than 1,100 matters, and nearly 80 percent of them have closed. As of March 2025, 272 matters remained open.
Action to address certain open matters can produce tens of billions of dollars in future financial savings. Actions on other matters can improve the effectiveness of federal agencies and programs and help position the nation to address future challenges.
GAO identified 54 open matters that could result in financial benefits. Thirteen of these each have the potential to provide at least $1 billion of financial benefits (see table).
Examples of Open Recommendations to Congress with Potential Financial Benefits of $1 Billion or More, as of March 2025
| Potential Financial Benefits | GAO Report | Recommendation Description |
|---|---|---|
|
$156.9 billion over |
Medicare: Increasing Hospital-Physician Consolidation Highlights Need for Payment Reform (GAO-16-189) | Congress should consider directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to equalize payment rates between medical settings for evaluation and management office visits and other services that the Secretary deems appropriate. The associated savings would be returned to the Medicare program. |
| $15 billion over 15 years | Public-Safety Broadband Network: Congressional Action Required to Ensure Network Continuity (GAO-22-104915) | Congress should consider reauthorizing FirstNet, including different options for its placement, and ensure key statutory and contract responsibilities are addressed. |
| Billions | Tax Policy: Tax-Exempt Status of Certain Bonds Merits Reconsideration, and Apparent Noncompliance with Issuance Cost Limitations Should be Addressed (GAO-08-364) | Congress should consider whether privately used facilities, such as hotels and golf courses, should continue to be financed with tax-exempt governmental bonds. |
| $2.2 billion | 2014 Annual Report: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits (GAO-14-343SP) | Congress should consider passing legislation to require the Social Security Administration to offset Disability Insurance benefits for any Unemployment Insurance benefits received in the same period. |
Source: GAO. | GAO-25-108167
The remaining open matters have the potential to provide numerous other important benefits, such as improving government effectiveness and efficiency. For example, one January 2025 matter relates to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) oversight of the safety of certain foods (GAO-25-107571). Implementing this matter could improve FDA’s ability to carry-out required inspections of foreign food facilities, improving the effectiveness of FDA’s food safety oversight.
Many of these matters could be addressed by legislation Congress is considering. As of February 2025, bills introduced in the 118th and 119th Congresses would have fully or partially addressed 89 (about 33 percent) of the 272 open matters. Of these, GAO identified legislation related to 11 matters that, if enacted, could result in financial benefits to the government.
To assist Congress, GAO cataloged the open matters, which span a wide range of topics and involve many parts of the federal government. Topic areas include defense, economic development, energy, federal financial management, health, IT, and others.
Open Recommendations for Congress by Topic, as of March 2025
One hundred and thirteen (42 percent) of the 272 matters have been open for less than 4 years. The oldest open matter is more than 20 years old and remains highly relevant to addressing one of the issues on GAO's High-Risk List—Improving Federal Oversight of Food Safety.
Why GAO Did This Study
GAO issued this report in response to a provision in the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. In producing this report, GAO used information from its internal system for tracking recommendations and matters for congressional consideration.
For more information, contact Jessica Lucas-Judy at LucasJudyJ@gao.gov.