Reports & Testimonies

  1. Share with Facebook 
  2. Share with Twitter 
  3. Share with LinkedIn 
  4. Share with mail 

Recommendations Database

GAO’s recommendations database contains report recommendations that still need to be addressed. GAO’s priority recommendations are those that we believe warrant priority attention. We sent letters to the heads of key departments and agencies, urging them to continue focusing on these issues. Below you can search only priority recommendations, or search all recommendations.

Our recommendations help congressional and agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight activities, as well as help improve government operations. Moreover, when implemented, some of our priority recommendations can save large amounts of money, help Congress make decisions on major issues, and substantially improve or transform major government programs or agencies, among other benefits.

As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.

Browse or Search Open Recommendations

Search


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.

« Back to Results List Sort by   

Results:

Subject Term: "Budget administration"

3 publications with a total of 7 open recommendations including 3 priority recommendations
Download these results in CSV format or XLSX format.
Veterans Health Care: VA Needs to Improve Its Allocation and Monitoring of Funding
GAO-19-670, Sep 23, 2019
Director: Sharon M. Silas
Phone: (202) 512-7114

5 open recommendations
including 1 priority recommendation
Display
Recommendation: The VA Under Secretary of Health should use workload data from the most recently completed fiscal year as part of the models that inform VISNs' and medical centers' general purpose funding needs, when doing so would not significantly delay the allocation of funds. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration
Status: Open

Comments: April 2020: GAO will update the status of this recommendation when VA provides additional information.
Recommendation: The VA Under Secretary of Health should establish a formal process to document VHA's review of VISNs' adjustments to medical center allocation levels. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration
Status: Open

Comments: April 2020: GAO will update the status of this recommendation when VA provides additional information.
Recommendation: The VA Under Secretary of Health should revise VHA's existing guidance to require VISNs to provide information on how they determined how much and for what reasons they made adjustments to medical center allocation levels. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration
Status: Open

Comments: April 2020: GAO will update the status of this recommendation when VA provides additional information.
Recommendation: The VA Under Secretary of Health should revise its existing guidance to require VISNs—in conjunction with medical centers—to develop and submit approaches to improve efficiency at medical centers with declining workload that received adjusted funding levels. These approaches could include adjusting the level of services offered. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: April 2020: GAO will update the status of this recommendation when VA provides additional information.
Recommendation: The VA Under Secretary of Health should require VISNs to provide explanations on the amount of funds redistributed between VISNs and medical centers and VHA to document its review of these redistributions. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration
Status: Open

Comments: April 2020: GAO will update the status of this recommendation when VA provides additional information.
Tax Expenditures: Opportunities Exist to Use Budgeting and Agency Performance Processes to Increase Oversight
GAO-16-622, Jul 7, 2016
Director: Krause, Heather M
Phone: (202) 512-6806

1 open recommendations
including 1 priority recommendation
Display
Recommendation: To help ensure that the contributions of tax expenditures toward the achievement of agency goals are identified and measured, the Director of OMB, in collaboration with the Secretary of the Treasury, should work with agencies to identify which tax expenditures contribute to their agency goals, as appropriate--that is, they should identify which specific tax expenditures contribute to specific strategic objectives and agency priority goals.

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: As of December 2019, OMB had not begun to work with agencies to identify which tax expenditures contribute to the agencies' specific strategic objectives and agency priority goals, as GAO recommended in 2016. OMB staff told GAO that, although they agreed with the recommendation, it was not an effort they were pursuing due to competing priorities, as well as capacity and resource constraints. Without additional OMB assistance, agencies may continue to have difficulty identifying whether or which of the dozens of tax expenditures-representing an estimated $1.32 trillion in forgone revenues in fiscal year 2019-contribute to their goals.
Export Promotion: Better Information Needed about Federal Resources
GAO-13-644, Jul 17, 2013
Director: Gianopoulos, Kimberly M
Phone: (202)512-8612

1 open recommendations
including 1 priority recommendation
Display
Recommendation: To improve the consistency, comprehensiveness, and transparency of information provided to Congress and policymakers on the federal investment in export promotion programs, the Secretary of Commerce, as chair of the TPCC, should report in its National Export Strategies on how resources are allocated by agency and aligned with priorities.

Agency: Department of Commerce
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: The Export Enhancement Act [15 U.S.C. Section 4727(c)] states that the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee's (TPCC) strategies should establish a set of priorities for federal export promotion activities and propose a unified federal trade promotion budget that supports the plan. In written comments on GAO's report, the Director of the TPCC Secretariat generally concurred with the recommendation on behalf of the Secretary. Nevertheless, the Director noted the TPCC's limited authority over budget reporting and resource allocations and gave examples of some challenges they faced, including shifts in the political and budgetary landscape and how different Administrations and Congresses have emphasized different priorities over time. In the years following GAO's 2013 report, the TPCC has not issued any National Export Strategies (NES), except in 2016; however this 2016 NES did not include any budget information on how resources were allocated by agency and aligned with the strategy's priorities. In August 2020 Commerce officials told GAO they had collected budget information from TPCC agencies related to trade promotion activities (FY19 actual and FY20 requested). They noted that the budget categories and agencies from which it was collected reflected changes in Administration priorities and new Congressional mandates. However, they said this information has not been transmitted to Congress.