Skip to main content

Recommendations Database

Jump To:

As of May 4, 2024, there are 5123 open recommendations that still need to be addressed. 412 of these are priority recommendations, those that we believe warrant priority attention. Learn more about our priority designation on our Recommendations page.

Search for open recommendations by agency, topic, subject, or keyword/phrase below, or view all open recommendations by agency.

Clear All Filters
161 - 180 of 412 Recommendations

COVID-19: Sustained Federal Action Is Crucial as Pandemic Enters Its Second Year

GAO-21-387
A. Nikki Clowers
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Office of Management and Budget
Priority Rec.
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget should work in consultation with federal agencies and the audit community (e.g., agency Offices of Inspector General; National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers; and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), to the extent practicable, to incorporate appropriate measures in the Office of Management and Budget's process for preparing single audit guidance, including the annual Single Audit Compliance Supplement, to better ensure that such guidance is issued in a timely manner and is responsive to users' input and needs. See Single Audits enclosure. (Recommendation 28)
Open – Partially Addressed

In April 2023, OMB agreed that the Compliance Supplement (Supplement) should be issued in the spring of each year. For 2023, OMB stated that the Supplement is on schedule to be released in May. OMB also stated that OMB staff focused on improving the quality of the 2023 Supplement during the review process and issued a Preparation Guide for agencies to use in updating the Supplement. This guide included guidance and requirements for agencies to follow when updating their respective sections of the 2023 Supplement, as well as a schedule for providing updates to OMB. OMB requests that this

VA Acquisition Management: Comprehensive Supply Chain Management Strategy Key to Address Existing Challenges

GAO-21-445T
Shelby S. Oakley
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Support develops a comprehensive supply chain management strategy that outlines how VHA's various supply chain initiatives are related to each other and to VA-wide initiatives. This strategy should link to VA's overall plans to address its broader acquisition management challenges and reflect key practices of organizational transformations, including an implementation plan with key milestones. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed

VA officials agreed with this recommendation. As of February 2024, VA and VHA continue to collaborate to provide a completed Comprehensive Supply Chain Management strategy to GAO. In September 2023, VA signed a charter which appointed a program manager to oversee the modernization of the supply chain process within VA. In September 2023, VA also chartered an Enterprise Supply Chain Board (ESCB) to integrate VA's supply chain efforts under a single governing body to bring together the goals, governance structure, and roles and responsibilities of the ESC program. VA's Chief Acquisition Officer

Offshore Oil and Gas: Updated Regulations Needed to Improve Pipeline Oversight and Decommissioning

GAO-21-293
Frank Rusco
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
Priority Rec.
The BSEE Director should take actions to further develop, finalize, and implement updated pipeline regulations to address long-standing limitations regarding its ability to (1) ensure the integrity of active offshore oil and gas pipelines and (2) address safety and environmental risks associated with their decommissioning. (Recommendation 1)
Open

In September 2021, the Department of the Interior indicated that BSEE was continuing to work on updating its offshore oil and gas pipeline regulations and anticipated publishing a final rule in October 2022. As of April 2024, BSEE continues to work toward publishing updates to its pipeline regulations and now anticipates publishing a proposed rule by August 2024.

Electricity Grid: Opportunities Exist for DOE to Better Support Utilities in Improving Resilience to Hurricanes

GAO-21-274
Frank Rusco
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Energy
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Energy should establish a plan, including timeframes as appropriate, to guide the agency's efforts to develop tools for resilience planning, such as performance measures for resilience, a framework for resilience planning, and additional information on the cost of long-term power outages. (Recommendation 1)
Open

In June 2021, DOE officials told us that its Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER) is establishing a plan of action for energy sector risk management, building on several completed and ongoing elements led by DOE program offices for resilience planning, including tools for resilience planning, frameworks for resilience planning, and information on the long-term costs of power outages. In April 2024, DOE-CESER told us it aims to complete this plan by September 30, 2024, pending availability of funds.

Electricity Grid Resilience: Climate Change Is Expected to Have Far-reaching Effects and DOE and FERC Should Take Actions

GAO-21-346
Frank Rusco
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Energy
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Energy should develop and implement a department-wide strategy to coordinate its efforts that defines goals and measures progress to enhance the resilience of the electricity grid to the risks of climate change. (Recommendation 1)
Open

DOE agreed with our recommendation. In August 2022, DOE officials briefed Congress on recent updates to the Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI) strategy. The strategy includes an all-hazards approach to characterize and implement system resilience. According to DOE, the GMI strategy will serve as the foundation for the departmentwide climate change strategy that GAO recommended. In April 2024, DOE revised the strategy based on comments from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and, according to DOE, OMB is currently reviewing the revised strategy. To fully address our recommendation, DOE

Weapon Systems Cybersecurity: Guidance Would Help DOD Programs Better Communicate Requirements to Contractors

GAO-21-179
William Russell
Show
2 Open Recommendations
2 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of the Navy
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Navy should develop guidance for acquisition programs on how to incorporate tailored weapon systems cybersecurity requirements, acceptance criteria, and verification processes into contracts. (Recommendation 2)
Open

The Navy concurred with our recommendation. In April 2022, the Navy issued an updated instruction governing the Department's program acquisition and sustainment policies and procedures. The instruction includes a new enclosure on cybersecurity requirements, which reinforces the importance of cybersecurity as a design and systems engineering consideration throughout the program lifecycle. However, the instruction does not address contracting for cybersecurity requirements. In February 2023, Navy officials stated that they were developing a new instruction on technology and program protection
Department of the Navy
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of the Navy should take steps to ensure the Marine Corps develops guidance for acquisition programs on how to incorporate tailored weapon systems cybersecurity requirements, acceptance criteria, and verification processes into contracts. (Recommendation 3)
Open

The Navy partially concurred with our recommendation, stating that a separate recommendation to the Marine Corps was unnecessary given that the Navy and Marine Corps operate under a single acquisition construct. We determined that separate recommendations to each component were appropriate because each maintains independent policies and guidance relevant to weapon systems cybersecurity. In April 2022, the Navy issued an updated instruction governing the Department's program acquisition and sustainment policies and procedures. The instruction includes a new enclosure on cybersecurity

Bureau of Prisons: Opportunities Exist to Better Analyze Staffing Data and Improve Employee Wellness Programs

GAO-21-123
Gretta L. Goodwin
Show
3 Open Recommendations
3 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Bureau of Prisons
Priority Rec.
The Director of BOP should conduct a risk assessment of its overtime and augmentation use, including identifying risks to staff, inmates, and institution security; and determining actions to respond, as appropriate. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed

BOP concurred with this recommendation and has taken steps to address it. In June 2021, BOP reported that it hired a contractor to assist the agency in assessing the risk of overtime and augmentation usage and develop an overtime calculation tool. In August 2022, the contractor finalized its risk assessment of overtime and augmentation use. The study concluded that there were few risks of overtime and augmentation, for example, related to sick leave, vacancies, or inmate and staff incidents. However, the study was based on limited data, and, in March 2024, BOP officials acknowledged that there
Bureau of Prisons
Priority Rec.
The Director of BOP should assess the outcomes of the staffing incentives it utilizes by developing performance measures and goals, measuring outcomes against them, and adjusting incentives, as appropriate. (Recommendation 4)
Open – Partially Addressed

BOP concurred with this recommendation and reported in February 2022 that its contractor was finalizing a risk analysis of the agency's current use of staffing incentives. In August 2022, the contractor finalized its analysis of staffing incentives. In March 2023, BOP stated that, based on the assessment, the contractor continued its work to standardize incentive usage, including working with BOP Executive Staff and other Human Resources staff to identify performance measures and goals for its use of incentives. In June 2023, BOP released its Incentives Playbook, with the intended purpose of
Bureau of Prisons
Priority Rec.
The Director of BOP should develop and implement a reliable method, or amend existing methods, for calculating staffing levels at BOP institutions. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed

BOP concurred with this recommendation and has begun taking steps to address it. In June 2021, BOP reported that it hired a contractor to assist the agency in calculating staffing levels at BOP institutions and, in August 2022, BOP reported that the contractor had completed its assessment and developed a new automated staffing tool prototype. BOP reported that the intent of the new tool is to address BOP staffing challenges by providing an updated, standardized, and transparent view of staffing guidelines, and also for assessing staffing levels. BOP also reported in August 2022 that the

Southwest Border Security: Actions Are Needed to Address the Cost and Readiness Implications of Continued DOD Support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

GAO-21-356
Elizabeth Field
Show
2 Open Recommendations
2 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, together with the Secretary of Defense, should define a common outcome for DOD's support to DHS, consistent with best practices for interagency collaboration, and articulate how that support will enable DHS to achieve its southwest border security mission in fiscal year 2021 and beyond. (Recommendation 6)
Open

DHS agreed with the recommendation and stated in its response that it will continue to use the RFA process to define and articulate a common outcome. However, as we stated in our report, the RFA process has not enabled DOD and DHS to agree to a common outcome for DOD's support, because it focuses on meeting DHS's operational requirements over a short period of time. In March 2023, DHS shared positive steps toward implementing our recommendation, including a multi-year DOD drawdown plan that identifies investments to address capability gaps currently filled by DOD personnel. Then in November
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense, together with the Secretary of Homeland Security, should define a common outcome for DOD's support to DHS, consistent with best practices for interagency collaboration, and articulate how that support will enable DHS to achieve its southwest border security mission in fiscal year 2021 and beyond. (Recommendation 7)
Open

DOD did not concur with this recommendation. DOD disagreed that it would be appropriate to develop a common outcome with DHS for DOD support beyond fiscal year 2021 and stated that agreeing to this recommendation would represent a more permanent and enduring commitment of its resources and may create an impression that DOD has a border security mission. We agree that DOD is not responsible for the border security mission and stated this point throughout our report. However, DOD and DHS's disagreement on the outcome for support in fiscal year 2021 and beyond is not consistent with the

Department of Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Accounting of Intradepartmental Transactions

GAO-21-84
Kristen Kociolek
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) should develop a strategy to identify short-term solutions that can be implemented in advance of the full implementation of G-Invoicing to address the intradepartmental eliminations material weakness. Such solutions should include documented procedures to (1) identify the causes for intradepartmental differences, (2) monitor the results of action plans prepared by components, and (3) measure whether implemented action plans are effective in addressing the causes for intradepartmental differences. (Recommendation 3)
Open

The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation and stated that to address the intradepartmental eliminations material weakness, the Office of Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) (Comptroller) (1) established the Trading Partners Elimination working group to identify and develop procedure to reduce interdepartmental differences; (2) will request components provide an action plan for reducing intradepartmental differences; and (3) will develop a dash-boarding tool to track the status of reconciliations and eliminations. In April 2022, DOD developed a corrective action plan

Department of Energy Contracting: Improvements Needed to Ensure DOE Assesses Its Full Range of Contracting Fraud Risks

GAO-21-44
Rebecca Shea, Allison Bawden
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Energy
Priority Rec.
The Office of the Chief Financial Officer should expand its methodology for developing its agency-wide fraud risk assessment to ensure that all inherent fraud risks—not limited to top fraud risks—facing DOE programs are fully assessed and documented in accordance with leading practices. (Recommendation 1)
Open

In response to our recommendation, DOE has updated its risk profile template so that reporting entities assess the likelihood and impact of every risk identified in their risk profiles and the extent to which controls mitigate those risks, consistent with leading practices. To fully address our recommendation, DOE needs to take additional actions to document the agency's fraud risk tolerance. DOE told us it recently established a risk tolerance and plans to document this risk tolerance in risk profiles by March 2024. By addressing our recommendation, DOE will better ensure its fraud risk

DHS Employee Morale: Some Improvements Made, but Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Employee Engagement

GAO-21-204
Christopher P. Currie
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security
Priority Rec.
DHS OCHCO should monitor components' implementation of the OPM action planning cycle to ensure the components review and assess the results of their actions to adjust, reprioritize, and identify new actions needed to improve employee engagement. (Recommendation 3)
Open – Partially Addressed

In January 2021, we found that OCHCO did not ensure that components review and assess the results of their actions and then use this information to adjust, reprioritize, and identify new actions needed to improve employee engagement. We also found that with the information collected through the employee engagement steering committee, working group, and annual reviews of component action plans, OCHCO is in a unique position to monitor the implementation and results of the component action planning process and provide feedback to components on any areas where components have not achieved

Hanford Cleanup: DOE's Efforts to Close Tank Farms Would Benefit from Clearer Legal Authorities and Communication

GAO-21-73
David Trimble
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Energy
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Energy should direct the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Environmental Management to obtain the assistance of an independent, third-party mediator to help reach agreement with the State of Washington's Department of Ecology on a process for assessing the contaminated soil and what role NRC should play in this process. (Recommendation 1)
Open

In a December 2020 letter signed by the Senior Advisor for Environmental Management that provided agency comments on our draft report, DOE stated that it has engaged in mediated negotiations with EPA and Ecology since June 2020 and that these current actions satisfy our recommendation. As of April 2024, parties are still engaged in these negotiations. DOE also told us that the ongoing negotiations are also intended to enhance the integration of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) into remediation

Drinking Water: EPA Could Use Available Data to Better Identify Neighborhoods at Risk of Lead Exposure

GAO-21-78
J. Alfredo Gómez
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency
Priority Rec.
EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water should develop a strategic plan that meets the WIIN Act requirement for providing targeted outreach, education, technical assistance, and risk communication to populations affected by the concentration of lead in public water systems, and that is fully consistent with leading practices for strategic plans. (Recommendation 3)
Open

In March 2023, EPA reiterated its disagreement with our recommendation and stated that it believes the agency has satisfied WIIN Act requirements. However, we maintain that the recommendation is still warranted because EPA's Strategic Plan for Targeted Outreach to Populations Affected by Lead does not address all of the WIIN Act's requirements and does not meet leading practices for strategic plans. For example, EPA's plan does not address education, technical assistance, or risk communication. Rather, the plan only discusses actions to disseminate information to households after EPA has

Automated Technologies: DOT Should Take Steps to Ensure Its Workforce Has Skills Needed to Oversee Safety

GAO-21-197
Heather Krause
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation
Priority Rec.
The Director of DOT's Department of Human Resources should assess skill gaps in key occupations that are involved in overseeing the safety of automated technologies. (Recommendation 2)
Open

DOT agreed with this recommendation. As of March 2024, DOT officials noted that the agency had finished identifying which of its positions that oversee the safety of automated technologies require cybersecurity skills. DOT officials also noted that they developed a tool to assess competencies and skill gaps within these positions and would deploy that tool and analyze the results by June 2024. While cybersecurity skills are important for overseeing the safety of automated technologies, other skills-such as data analysis-are also important. To fully implement this recommendation, DOT needs to

Intelligence Community: Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Workforce Diversity Planning and Oversight

GAO-21-83
Brian M. Mazanec
Show
2 Open Recommendations
2 Priority
Agency Recommendation Status
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Priority Rec.
The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should issue new or update existing guidance to require all IC elements to maintain current and complete diversity strategic plans that contain specific objectives, timeframes, and responsibilities. (Recommendation 1)
Open

In its December 2020 response to our report, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In its response, ODNI noted that specific, time-bound initiatives are not publicly available but are instead internal working documents. ODNI stated that specific and time-bound initiatives have been developed but internal working documents and are not publicly available. In August 2023, ODNI provided an update on the status of this recommendation. ODNI noted that the Intelligence Community (IC) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Office
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Priority Rec.
The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the department secretary or head of the IC element, as appropriate, and consistent with the Director of National Intelligence's authority, should issue new or update existing guidance to ensure that IC elements develop performance measures to assess the contribution of activities toward achieving diversity goals and overall progress. (Recommendation 3)
Open

In its December 2020 response to our report, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In August 2023, ODNI provided an update on the status of this recommendation. ODNI noted that the Intelligence Community (IC) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Office distributed a questionnaire to all IC elements in 2022 to obtain IC-wide inputs that would allow ODNI to identify DEIA challenge areas and develop solutions. In the questionnaire, ODNI asked the IC elements whether they had performance measures to assess progress in
Note: the list of open recommendations for the last report may continue on the next page.

Have a Question about a Recommendation?

For questions about a specific recommendation, contact the person or office listed with the recommendation. For general information about recommendations, contact GAO's Audit Policy and Quality Assurance office at (202) 512-6100 or apqa@gao.gov.