Government Restructuring: Identifying Potential Duplication in Federal Missions and Approaches

GAO discussed how the federal government addresses its various missions and the potential for government restructuring. GAO noted that: (1) most federal spending is driven by relatively few organizations and missions; (2) most federal departments and agencies address more than one mission area; (3) the monetary significance of a department to a mission area varies considerably; (4) the federal government uses a budget object classification system to report obligations for services provided or objects procured and to address its varied missions; (5) in fiscal year 1994, nearly half of all federal obligations were in the form of grants or benefit payments from social insurance and retirement trust funds; (6) contractor obligations dominate some technical and scientific missions, such as energy, space, and technology; (7) many missions areas use grants as a basic mode of operations, but it is unclear if there is consistency across these varied missions or if there is potential for mission consolidation; and (8) any reorganization involves focusing on specific goals and a coordinated approach to effective implementation.