U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO)

The Month in Review is a comprehensive list of all reports, testimony, correspondence and other publications issued by GAO during the month, grouped according to topics. We assign more than one topic to a report when that makes sense. For example, a report about education for veterans will be categorized as both a Veterans report and an Education report. So, you may see the same report in more than one topic below.

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Financial Markets and Institutions

What GAO Found Using its existing authority, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) developed four temporary relief measures for its loan and loan guarantee programs in response to the lack of liquidity and other export financing issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. EXIM's Board...

What GAO Found The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is statutorily required to assess the effectiveness of its internal supervisory controls and staff procedures. An SEC working group issued a guide to establish a consistent approach to compliance with the requirement across the Divisions of...

GAO Mission and Operations

What GAO Found Presented is GAO's Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2022. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. The financial information and the data...

Government Operations

What GAO Found A zero trust architecture is a set of cybersecurity principles stating that organizations must verify everything that attempts to access their systems and services. These principles cover five pillars (see figure). Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Pillars of Zero Trust...

What GAO Found The Department of Justice (DOJ) lacks some key information that is preventing it from effectively tracking and monitoring responses to congressional correspondence. Specifically, DOJ does not systematically maintain quality data to track and monitor the status of responses, lacks guidance...

What GAO Found The U.S. Department of State’s Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan, issued in October 2021, outlines priority actions to make State’s personnel, facilities, and operations resilient to future natural hazards. One of these actions is to screen State facilities for hazards to identify...

What GAO Found COVID-19 prompted the Social Security Administration (SSA) to make dramatic changes in the way it delivers services and administers its programs. On March 17, 2020, SSA closed its offices to the public—providing limited in-person visits for individuals with certain critical needs—and...

What GAO Found The federal judiciary's policies for addressing allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse do not fully align with leading investigative guidance on establishing documented procedures and ensuring independence. For example: The judiciary's policies do not require all components with responsibility...

Health Care

What GAO Found In November 2020, GAO reported that, from 2010 through 2018, enrollment in private health insurance plans was concentrated, meaning a small number of issuers of those plans enrolled most of the people in a given market. Specifically, GAO considered a market concentrated in a state if three...

What GAO Found The Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) scribe pilot team implemented a medical scribe pilot at 11 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers from June 30, 2020, through July 1, 2022. Under the pilot, medical scribes assisted providers in cardiology, orthopedic, and emergency...

What GAO Found The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the only federal entity that oversees all 153 state veterans homes, which provide nursing home care to roughly 14,500 veterans. While these homes are owned and operated by states, VA helps pay for care for eligible veterans and is required to...

What GAO Found The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) received approximately $36.70 billion in supplemental funding outside of its annual appropriation from three COVID-19 relief laws between 2020 and 2021: the CARES Act; the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA); and the American Rescue Plan...

What GAO Found The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) utilizes two contractors to manage its regional networks of community providers, called Community Care Networks, to deliver care to veterans under the Veterans Community Care Program. VA requires its contractors to meet two network adequacy standards...

Homeland Security

What GAO Found The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has taken actions, such as establishing procedures and training, that can help to prevent the potential for discrimination in its airline passenger screening practices. However, it has not assessed...

What GAO Found U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has incomplete data that may indicate whether foreign students and scholars pose risks for transferring technology from U.S. universities to foreign entities. ICE's foreign student and scholar database contains data on the number of graduate...

What GAO Found Coast Guard efforts to promote commercial fishing vessel safety include conducting dockside exams, engaging with industry, and collaborating with other federal agencies. A dockside exam includes a review of a vessel's documents and safety equipment. Vessels that successfully complete an...

What GAO Found The federal approach to disaster recovery is fragmented across more than 30 federal entities. This approach is the product of over 40 years of incremental efforts to address emerging issues in disaster recovery through legislative reform as well as differing agency regulations and policies....

What GAO Found Border Patrol established the Missing Migrant Program to help rescue migrants in distress and reduce migrant deaths along the southwest border. Through this program, Border Patrol coordinates with external entities (e.g., state and local officials) to assist migrants and to recover and...

Housing

What GAO Found GAO found (1) the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) FHFA maintained, in all...

Human Capital

What GAO Found A significant share of companies that responded to the 2020 Annual Business Survey reported using temporary, on-call, part-time, or contracted workers. Thirty-three percent reported using "contractors, subcontractors, independent contractors, or outside consultants," and 50 percent reported...

What GAO Found The federal wildland firefighting workforce is composed of approximately 18,700 firefighters (including fire management and support staff) from the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and from four agencies in the Department of the Interior. The Interior agencies are the Bureau...

What GAO Found The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL) and Education have created a common data structure that standardizes the information states are required to collect on the participants and performance of the six programs the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (the Act) identifies as core. The...

Information Security

What GAO Found The Department of Defense (DOD) and our nation's defense industrial base (DIB)—which includes entities outside the federal government that provide goods or services critical to meeting U.S. military requirements—are dependent on information systems to carry out their operations. These...

Month in Review, November 2022

Financial Markets and Institutions

Loan and Loan Guarantee Program Updates in Response to COVID-19

Additional Guidance Needed for Assessing Staff Procedures

GAO Mission and Operations

Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2022

Government Operations

Secret Service Has Made Progress Toward Zero Trust Architecture, but Work Remains

Actions Needed to Better Track and Monitor Responses to Congressional Correspondence

State's Initial Assessment of Natural Hazard Risks Faced By its Posts

Remote Service Delivery Increased during COVID-19, but More Could Be Done to Assist Vulnerable Populations

The Judiciary Should Improve Its Policies on Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Investigations

Health Care

Markets Remained Concentrated through 2020, with Increases in the Individual and Small Group Markets

Additional Action Needed to Assess the Medical Scribe Pilot

Opportunities Exist to Enhance Oversight of State Veterans Homes

Projection, Use, and Oversight of COVID-19 Relief Funding

VA Needs to Strengthen Its Oversight and Improve Data on Its Community Care Network Providers

Homeland Security

TSA Should Assess Potential for Discrimination and Better Inform Passengers of the Complaint Process

Efforts Underway to Address Technology Transfer Risk at U.S. Universities, but ICE Could Improve Related Data

Additional Actions Needed to Improve Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Efforts

Secret Service Has Made Progress Toward Zero Trust Architecture, but Work Remains

Actions Needed to Improve the Federal Approach

Border Patrol's Missing Migrant Program

Housing

Federal Housing Finance Agency's FY 2022 and FY 2021 Financial Statements

Human Capital

Data from the 2020 Annual Business Survey and Analysis of 2021 10-K Filings

Barriers to Recruitment and Retention of Federal Wildland Firefighters

Additional Steps Needed to Help States Collect Complete Enrollment Information

Information Security

Secret Service Has Made Progress Toward Zero Trust Architecture, but Work Remains

Enhanced Attention Needed to Ensure Cyber Incidents Are Appropriately Reported and Shared