Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to, in coordination with the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management, develop a risk-based approach for reviewing service requirements—through the Procurement Strategy Roadmap or other means—to ensure proposed service requirements are clearly defined and reviewed before planning how they are to be procured. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS disagreed with our recommendation, preferring to maintain the status quo in its policy and procedures. However, by doing so, DHS is missing important opportunities to prevent negative acquisition outcomes and the potential for wasted resources. In its response, DHS noted its processes for major acquisitions, however, DHS service programs and contracts did not rise to the level of being classified a major service acquisition.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to document the factors the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer considers when waiving procurement actions from its Procurement Strategy Roadmap to ensure it is consistently considering potential acquisition risks in its planning—including those specific to services. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation, maintaining that the factors considered when waiving a Procurement Strategy Roadmap are not static. We believe, however, that documenting the factors considered will help ensure that the decisions to waive the Procurement Strategy Roadmaps are made consistently, transparently, and help maintain institutional knowledge.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis to require the identification of special interest functions. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis job aid to require the identification of a special interest function when applicable.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to update the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis to provide guidance for analyzing, documenting, and updating the federal workforce needed to perform or oversee service contracts requiring heightened management attention. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation maintaining that the components are certifying that they have sufficient internal capacity or federal employees available for oversight within the Inherently Governmental and Critical Functions Analysis. We continue to believe, however, that without guidance, each component is making its own determination about which factors to consider, and DHS does not know how or whether the components are considering the federal workforce available to oversee service contracts in need of heightened management attention, or what steps, if any, the components are taking to mitigate risks if there are not enough federal personnel available to oversee the contracts after award.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Procurement Officer to develop guidance identifying oversight tasks or safeguards personnel can perform, when needed, to mitigate the risk associated with contracts containing closely associated with inherently governmental functions, special interest functions, or critical functions. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will develop guidance that identifies oversight tasks or safeguards that personnel can perform, when needed, to mitigate the risk associated with contracts containing closely associated with inherently governmental, special interest, or critical functions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the DHS Chief Financial Officer to work with Congress to identify information to include in its annual congressional budget justifications to provide greater transparency into requested and actual service requirement costs, particularly for those services requiring heightened management attention. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not concur with this recommendation stating that its annual Congressional Budget Justification already contains substantial service contract information. We maintain, however, that the service contract information currently included limits visibility for both DHS and Congress into requested and actual service requirements costs.

Recommendation: The Executive Director for Operations of NRC should ensure relevant NRC program offices develop policy and guidance for when to communicate information on work progress to licensees, such as through communications to licensees at specified timeframes or thresholds. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Directorate for Operations
Status: Open

Comments: In January 2020, in its written response to our report, NRC neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation but did describe actions that it intends to take in response to our recommendation. NRC stated that it will review its current practice of providing information on work progress to licensees and develop or revise any policy and guidance where necessary. We believe our review sufficiently demonstrated that by implementing our recommendation NRC could further enhance transparency and facilitate planning and budgeting for licensees. We will continue to monitor NRC's actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Chief Financial Officer of NRC should, in consultation with NRC program offices, develop guidance to ensure NRC staff clearly define what costs—such as project management—are included in its public cost estimates. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Status: Open

Comments: In January 2020, in its written response to our report, NRC neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation but did describe actions that it intends to take in response to our recommendation. NRC stated that it will review its current web-based cost estimates to determine if changes are necessary and implement those changes as appropriate. We believe our review sufficiently demonstrated that by implementing our recommendation NRC could further enhance transparency and facilitate planning and budgeting for licensees. We will continue to monitor NRC's actions to address this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of State, working with the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, should collaborate with the Departments of Defense and Agriculture and other Departments as necessary, to develop a comprehensive approach to the monitoring and evaluation of projects that directly support the objectives of prosperity, governance, and security, and incorporate this approach into the Strategy monitoring and evaluation plan.

Agency: Department of State
Status: Open

Comments: State did not concur with the recommendation, indicating that it continues to collaborate with agencies regarding U.S. government activities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. However, in May 2020, State noted that, to the extent possible, it would seek to include agencies, such as the Departments of Defense and Agriculture, into the Progress Report for the U.S. Strategy for Central America's Plan for Monitoring and Evaluation. When we confirm what actions State has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment designates an accountable official responsible for (a) developing job specialty descriptions to help identify non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions; and (b) establishing a schedule to identify these personnel. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation, but has not yet taken any necessary actions to implement it. In its concurrence, DOD noted that the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) would develop and provide the guidance and job specialty descriptions for DOD components to use for identifying acquisition and non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions. DOD also noted that the Director of Human Capital Initiatives has deployed an enterprise-wide coding capability for components to use in identifying acquisition and non-acquisition civilians across DOD. A DOD official stated that during 2020, both OSD and the Office of Human Capital Initiatives have developed reports that discuss issues related to the identification and training of non-acquisition personnel, including those supporting services acquisitions. This official noted that both of these reports are going through the coordination and staffing process and have not been issued. Additionally, DOD has not yet designated an accountable official responsible for efforts to help identify non-acquisition personnel supporting services acquisitions.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Component Acquisition Executives provide non-acquisition personnel training needs to the Defense Acquisition University as part of the annual planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation. In July 2020, a DOD official stated that DOD is planning a revision to its instruction related to the education and training of DOD's acquisition workforce. The official said the revision is intended to help define the acquisition and non-acquisition workforces and the responsibilities for their respective training needs, among other things. However, the revision is in the planning stages and not be expected to be completed until the end of 2021. As a result, DOD is still not ensuring that Component Acquisition Executives provide non-acquisition personnel training needs to the Defense Acquisition University.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that establish department-wide policy for the level of detail of planned expenditure reporting to the CIO for all transactions that include IT resources. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided documentation regarding its IT budget procedures. However, DOE has not yet developed procedures that explicitly require that all transactions with an IT component be included in the expenditure reporting to the CIO. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs that are fully or partially supported with IT resources. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided documentation regarding its IT budget procedures. However, DOE has not yet documented procedures for ensuring the CIO is included in budget decisions for all programs with IT resources, including those within NNSA and the national laboratories. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO as a member of governance boards that inform decisions regarding all IT resources, including component-level boards. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided charters that included the CIO as a member of department-level governance boards that inform IT decisions. However, DOE has not provided charters that include the CIO as a member of component-level IT governance boards. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the processes by which program leadership works with the CIO to plan an overall portfolio of IT resources. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided IT governance board and budget procedures. However, DOE has not documented procedures by which the CIO is to work with program leadership in planning IT resources for all programs, including those within NNSA and the national laboratories. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the process for the CIO's review and approval of the major IT investments portion of the budget request. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: The department has provided IT budget procedures. However, DOE has not documented procedures by which the CIO is to review and approve all major IT investments, including those within NNSA and the national laboratories. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the CIO's role in reviewing IT resources that are to support major program objectives and significant increases and decreases in IT resources. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided IT budget procedures. However, DOE has not documented procedures for the CIO's review of IT resources that are to support major program objectives and significant increases and decreases in IT resources for department and component agency budget requests. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the steps the CIO is to take to ensure whether the IT portfolio includes appropriate estimates of all IT resources included in the budget request. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. The department has provided IT budget procedures. However, DOE has not developed procedures for documenting steps the CIO is to take to ensure that the IT portfolio includes appropriate estimates of all IT resources. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, establish quality assurance processes--such as data quality checks, reviews of estimation methods, linkages between the IT portfolio and procurement system data, and linkages between the IT portfolio and financial system data--for ensuring the annual IT budget is informed by complete and reliable information on anticipated government labor, contract, and other relevant IT expenditures. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE agreed with our recommendation and is planning to take steps towards implementing it. Specifically, DOE plans to implement the Technology Business Management Framework by December 2021. Additionally, the department is coordinating internally to update its financial and procurement systems to better identify IT spending. DOE anticipates that its updates will allow the agency to compare actual IT spending against estimates in the portfolio. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that establish agency-wide policy for the level of detail with which planned expenditures for all transactions that include IT resources are to be reported to the CIO. (Recommendation 10)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that include the CIO in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs that are fully or partially supported with IT resources. (Recommendation 11)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that include the CIO as a member of governance boards that inform decisions regarding all IT resources. (Recommendation 12)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that document the process for the CIO's review and approval of the major IT investments portion of the budget request. (Recommendation 13)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that document the CIO's role in reviewing IT resources that are to support major program objectives and significant increases and decreases in IT resources. (Recommendation 14)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of NNSA should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 15)

Agency: Department of Energy: National Nuclear Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: NNSA agreed with this recommendation and plans to develop relevant policies and procedures by June 2020. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that establish department-wide policy for the level of detail of planned expenditure reporting to the CIO for all transactions that include IT resources. (Recommendation 16)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with this recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the agency intends to update its IT investment planning policy to include requirements for reporting expenditures that apply to all transactions with an IT component. We will continue to monitor the department's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs that are fully or partially supported with IT resources. (Recommendation 17)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the agency intends to update its IT investment planning policy to amplify the CIO's role in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs with IT resources. Also, HHS intends to document procedures for ensuring that all delegated authorities are carried out. We will continue to monitor the department's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO as a member of governance boards that inform decisions regarding all IT resources, including component-level boards. (Recommendation 18)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation. The department has provided charters that included the CIO as a member of department-level governance boards that inform IT decisions. However, HHS has not provided charters that include the CIO as a member of component-level IT governance boards. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the processes by which program leadership works with the CIO to plan an overall portfolio of IT resources. (Recommendation 19)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. For example, HHS plans to develop an asset management policy and introduce a pilot program to manage inventories across the agency. However, the department has not developed policies and procedures that incorporate the processes by which the program leadership are planning the IT portfolio with the CIO for existing investments greater than or equal to $20 million annually and for investments delegated to components. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the process for the CIO's review and approval of the major IT investments portion of the budget request. (Recommendation 20)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the department intends to update its IT investment planning policy to amplify the CIO's role in reviewing major investments. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the CIO's role in reviewing IT resources that are to support major program objectives and significant increases and decreases in IT resources. (Recommendation 21)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with this recommendation and has taken steps towards implementing it. Specifically, HHS documented procedures that require the CIO to hold annual IT investment review meetings with components to review changes in IT resources. However, HHS has not documented procedures for the CIO's role in reviewing major program objectives. We will continue to monitor the department's progress toward implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the steps the CIO is to take to ensure whether the IT portfolio includes appropriate estimates of all IT resources included in the budget request. (Recommendation 22)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the department intends to assess and update its existing policies and procedures to document the steps the CIO is to take to review the IT portfolio for appropriate estimates of all IT resources. We will continue to monitor the department's progress toward implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the department CIO to establish, for any OMB common baseline requirements that are related to IT budgeting that have been delegated, a plan that specifies the requirement being delegated, demonstrates how the CIO intends to retain accountability for the requirement, and ensures through quality assurance processes that the delegated official will execute such responsibilities with the appropriate level of rigor. (Recommendation 23)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the department intends to develop an IT governance policy to define the accountability of the CIO over all IT projects and establish processes detailing quality reviews and the level of rigor that should be applied by its IT governance board. We will continue to monitor the department's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 24)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and is planning to take steps to implement it. Specifically, the agency intends to update its IT acquisition program policy and related processes. HHS also plans to document standard operating procedures for agency wide dissemination to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of IT investment governance through transparent and repeatable procedures. We will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Health and Human Services should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, establish quality assurance processes--such as data quality checks, reviews of estimation methods, linkages between the IT portfolio and procurement system data, and linkages between the IT portfolio and financial system data--for ensuring the annual IT budget is informed by complete and reliable information on anticipated government labor, contract, and other relevant IT expenditures. (Recommendation 25)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: HHS agreed with the recommendation and are planning to take steps towards implementing it. Specifically, HHS established a working group and developed a roadmap for implementing the Technology Business Management Framework by fiscal year 2022. The agency anticipates that its strategy and approach will enable HHS to, among other things, link IT portfolio data, procurement system data, and financial system data. We will continue to monitor the department's progress towards implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The Administrator of CMS should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that include the CIO in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs that are fully or partially supported with IT resources. (Recommendation 26)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Status: Open

Comments: CMS agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Administrator of CMS should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that document the processes by which program leadership works with the CIO to plan an overall portfolio of IT resources. (Recommendation 27)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Status: Open

Comments: CMS agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Administrator of CMS should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, develop and implement policies and procedures that document the CIO's role in reviewing IT resources that are to support major program objectives and significant increases and decreases in IT resources. (Recommendation 28)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Status: Open

Comments: CMS agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Administrator of CMS should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 29)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Status: Open

Comments: CMS agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Attorney General should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO as a member of governance boards that inform decisions regarding all IT resources, including component-level boards. (Recommendation 31)

Agency: Department of Justice
Status: Open

Comments: The department agreed with the recommendation and has taken steps towards implementing it. Specifically, in October 2019, the DOJ CIO issued a memorandum requiring component CIOs to establish a process for providing IT investment information to the DOJ CIO. The component CIO's process is to either include the DOJ CIO as a member of component investment review boards or provide an alternative mechanism for obtaining the DOJ CIO's input on component IT investments. We will continue to monitor the department's progress in implementing our recommendation.

Recommendation: The FBI Director should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 34)

Agency: Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Status: Open

Comments: FBI agreed with our recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that establish department-wide policy for the level of detail of planned expenditure reporting to the CIO for all transactions that include IT resources. (Recommendation 35)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO in the planning and budgeting stages for all programs that are fully or partially supported with IT resources. (Recommendation 36)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that include the CIO as a member of governance boards that inform decisions regarding all IT resources, including component-level boards. (Recommendation 37)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the process for the CIO's review and approval of the major IT investments portion of the budget request. (Recommendation 38)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, address gaps in the department's FITARA plans by developing and implementing policies and procedures that document the steps the CIO is to take to ensure whether the IT portfolio includes appropriate estimates of all IT resources included in the budget request. (Recommendation 39)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the department CIO to establish, for any OMB common baseline requirements that are related to IT budgeting that have been delegated, a plan that specifies the requirement being delegated, demonstrates how the CIO intends to retain accountability for the requirement, and ensures through quality assurance processes that the delegated official will execute such responsibilities with the appropriate level of rigor. (Recommendation 40)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, to take steps to ensure that the actions taken to comply with OMB's common baseline for implementing FITARA on individual investments are adequately documented. (Recommendation 41)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the Office of the CIO and other offices, as appropriate, establish quality assurance processes--such as data quality checks, reviews of estimation methods, linkages between the IT portfolio and procurement system data, and linkages between the IT portfolio and financial system data--for ensuring the annual IT budget is informed by complete and reliable information on anticipated government labor, contract, and other relevant IT expenditures. (Recommendation 42)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the department has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Homeland Security should create corresponding processes and procedures to help implement the mission, roles, and responsibilities defined in the delegation of authority or similar document to help ensure predictability, repeatability, and accountability in departmentwide and crosscutting strategy and policy efforts. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Homeland Security agreed with GAO's recommendation, and finalized a delegation of authority, which is a requisite step in being able to complete this action, in December 2019. As of February 2020, however, the agency had not taken action that addresses GAO's September 2018 recommendation to create processes and procedures corresponding to the mission, roles, and responsibilities defined in the delegation of authority. To close this recommendation, PLCY will need to create such processes and procedures to help ensure predictability, repeatability, and accountability in department-wide and crosscutting strategy and policy efforts. Until DHS creates these processes and procedures, the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans' ability to lead and coordinate policy will continue to be limited. Taking this recommended action would enhance the department's efficiency and reduce risks associated with fragmentation in the development of department-wide and crosscutting strategies, policies, and plans

Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans should use the DHS Workforce Planning Guide to help identify and analyze any gaps in PLCY's workforce, design strategies to address any gaps, and communicate this information to DHS leadership. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: On December 3, 2019, PLCY restated its concerns with this recommendation--specifically, that due to changes in administration and secretarial priorities, PLCY has to recalibrate and base budget and staffing projections on what officials expect will be needed, rather than current needs due to changing priorities. PLCY's ability to properly align resources with current needs must remain flexible and the workforce planning guidance that GAO references does not allow for that in whole. GAO maintains that utilizing the workforce planning guidance can be done while still maintaining the desired flexibility.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans should enhance the use of collaboration and communication mechanisms to connect with staff in the components with responsibilities for policy and strategy to better identify and address emerging needs. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: On March 5, 2019, PLCY officials told us PLCY has instituted many cross-component efforts to more clearly define its roles and responsibilities. For example, PLCY convenes frequent engagements with components via the Immigration Policy Council, the Strategy and Policy Executive Steering Committee, the Deputies Management Action Group, and the Threat Prevention and Security Policy Council. On December 3, 2019, PLCY officials told us that the pending delegation of authority will help address this recommendation, and the delegation of authority is expected to be completed in calendar year 2020. To close this recommendation, PLCY must provide documentary evidence of collaboration and communication mechanisms to connect staff and better identify emerging needs.

Recommendation: Congress should consider redefining what can be considered an allowable expense to be charged from the administrative account. (Matter for Consideration 1)

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of February 2020, two current bills in Congress address this matter. First, the Return Expenses Paid and Yielded Act would amend the Arms Export Control Act to remove an exclusion from the definition of administrative expenses related to military pay and unfunded civilian retirement and other benefits, and would require DOD to review and report to Congress on options for further expanding the use of FMS administrative fees. Second, the Annual Duplication Report Act of 2019 would require DOD to assess and report on (1) any expenses incurred by the U.S. government in operating the FMS program that are not paid for by the administrative fee, (2) their estimated annual cost, (3) the costs and benefits of funding such expenses, and (4) any legislative changes needed to allow the FMS administrative fee to pay for such expenses.

Recommendation: The Director of DSCA should take steps to ensure that comprehensive reviews of the administrative fee rate are completed at least every 5 years. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In its agency response to this report, DSCA concurred with this recommendation. As of December 2018, DSCA had planned to update its policy to clarify its process for completing comprehensive reviews of the administrative fee rate to ensure that adequate planning for the next rate review allows it to be completed on time. However, in updating its policy in April 2019, DSCA did not include any clarifications to ensure comprehensive reviews would be completed at least every 5 years or be adequately planned. As of August 2020, DSCA officials indicated they planned to take further action to address this recommendation by December 2020. We will continue to monitor DSCA's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Director of DSCA should direct the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to work together to ensure timely correction of the fiscal years 2016 and 2017 DCMA contract administration services (CAS) reimbursement issues. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In its agency response to this report, DSCA concurred with this recommendation. In October 2018, DSCA sent a memo to DCMA and DFAS directing them to resolve the reimbursement issues and to develop a corrective action plan. As of August 2020, DSCA officials estimated this corrective action plan would be implemented by December 2020. . We will continue to monitor implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Director of DSCA should take steps to ensure that comprehensive reviews of the CAS fee rate are completed at least every 5 years. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Defense: Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In its agency response to this report, DSCA partially concurred with this recommendation, noting that although performing a comprehensive review of the CAS fee rate every 5 years is a preferred practice, the agency did not plan to do so for its upcoming fee review due to various factors. In January 2020, DSCA lowered the CAS fee rate based on a rate review completed in 2019, six years after the prior rate review. In addition, in April 2019, DSCA updated related policy but included no clarifications to ensure future comprehensive reviews would be completed at least every 5 years or be adequately planned. As of August 2020, DSCA officials indicated they planned to take further action to address this recommendation by December 2020. We will continue to monitor DSCA's implementation of this recommendation.

Recommendation: As DOD continues to improve the completeness and transparency of subsequent joint reports' methodologies in order to assist Congress in understanding the basis of the NC3 estimates by documenting the methodological assumptions and limitations affecting the report's estimates for sustaining and modernizing the NC3 system, as we previously recommended, for future joint reports, the DOD CIO should include explanations of how DOD (1) selects program elements for inclusion in its NC3 estimate, (2) determines its weighted analysis ratios, and (3) differentiates its methodology for calculating operation and maintenance estimates from its methodologies for calculating estimates for the other NC3 line items.

Agency: Department of Defense: Office of the Chief Information Officer
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. As of the issuance of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Joint Report, DOD has taken some steps to address this recommendation. For example, DOD provided more information on the methodologies used to develop NC3 budget estimates. However, the methodology reported for NC3 estimates is still not transparent and DOD must still provide additional information beyond what the methodology in the joint report to clarify differences with the FYDP. However, according to DOD officials, actions will be taken to incorporate a more robust methodology that takes into account these issues in the FY2020 Joint Report. We will re-evaluate DOD's implementation of this recommendation as we review future joint reports.

Recommendation: In order to assist Congress in comparing year-to-year cost estimates between joint reports, for future joint reports, the Secretary of the Air Force should provide information about any programmatic changes (i.e., programs being moved from one line item to another) in its estimates and include an explanation of the reasons for those changes and how those changes may affect year-to-year comparisons of the budget estimates.

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Air Force
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with our recommendation. In the Fiscal Year 2019 Joint Report issued in November 2018, the Air Force identified some instances of programmatic changes in its estimates. However, not all programmatic changes were identified in the report. We will continue to monitor DOD's response to this recommendation as we review future annual joint budget estimate reports.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to provide guidance in the DOD Financial Management Regulation on the timing of when DOD managers should use available tools to help ensure that monthly cash balances are within the upper and lower cash requirements.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: DOD concurred with this recommendation and plans to update guidance in Volume 2B, Chapter 9, Paragraph 090103 4.j. of the DOD Financial Management Regulation. The draft guidance provided by DOD stated that "Components should consider leveraging the aforementioned available cash management tools when cash execution is trending below/above plan for more than three consecutive months of execution." In August 2020, DOD told us that after coordination within DOD, they estimate the final guidance related to our recommendation will be included in the DOD Financial Management Regulation guidance by April 2021.

Recommendation: To ensure accountability for BIE school facility funds, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs to develop a comprehensive long-term capital asset plan to inform its allocation of school facility funds. Such a plan should include a prioritized list of school repair and maintenance projects with the greatest need for funding.

Agency: Department of the Interior
Status: Open

Comments: Interior agreed with this recommendation. In August 2017, Indian Affairs reported that its Office of Facilities, Property, and Safety Management was undergoing a reorganization to establish a work group focused on asset management and will continue to work with the Office of Management and Budget to develop a capital asset management plan. In October 2018, Indian Affairs provided a prioritized list of deferred maintenance projects for 2018 and documentation of its processes for prioritizing school deferred maintenance requirements and allocating one type of construction funding. They also provided a memorandum on facilities management communication and organizational roles and responsibilities and sample agendas and minutes from meetings regarding construction. Indian affairs did not provide a long term capital asset plan. We will continue to monitor Indian Affairs' efforts to implement this recommendation and await documentation on the actions it is taking to develop a capital asset plan. We will continue to monitor Indian Affairs' efforts to implement this recommendation and await documentation on the actions it is taking to develop a capital asset plan.

Recommendation: To ensure accountability for BIE school facility funds, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs to improve oversight and technical assistance to tribal organizations to enhance tribal capacity to manage major construction projects.

Agency: Department of the Interior
Status: Open

Comments: Interior agreed with this recommendation. In August 2017, Indian Affairs reported that its Division of Facilities Management and Construction will develop a project tracking and monitoring process for all projects above a certain monetary threshold. Additionally, Indian Affairs reported that this office will work with BIA and BIE officials to identify common challenges that tribes face in managing projects and provide appropriate technical assistance. In September 2018, Indian Affairs provided documentation of templates it had created for regional Indian Affairs officials to use in communicating with tribes and agendas for training presentations. Neither of these documents show any direct technical assistance to tribes or address oversight. We will continue to monitor Indian Affairs' efforts to implement this recommendation and await documentation on the actions it is taking to improve oversight and technical assistance to tribal organizations.

Recommendation: To improve NRC's ability to strategically manage the size and composition of its workforce and respond to changes in the nuclear industry, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should set agencywide goals, which could be ranges, for overall workforce size and skills composition that extend beyond the 2-year budget cycle.

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: NRC generally agreed with this recommendation. In July 2017, NRC started a three-office pilot of an Enhanced Strategic Workforce Planning process to better integrate workload projection, skills identification, and human capital management, among other areas. NRC completed its enhanced strategic workforce planning pilot and now forecasts its workload on a 5-year time frame. However, as of May 2020, NRC officials said they do not plan to set agencywide goals for the workforce size and skills composition beyond the 2-year budget cycle.

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.

Recommendation: To reduce uncertainty about the expected cost and schedule of the U.S. ITER Project and its potential impact on the U.S. fusion program, once the ITER Organization completes its reassessment of the international project schedule, the Secretary of Energy should direct the Associate Director of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences to use that schedule, if reliable, to propose a final, stable funding plan for the U.S. ITER Project, approve a performance baseline with finalized cost and schedule estimates, and communicate this information to Congress.

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: DOE approved a performance baseline for the first plasma portion of the U.S. ITER Project in January 2017 and communicated that performance baseline to Congress. However, as of June 2020, DOE has not set a performance baseline for the post-first plasma portion of the project. DOE officials told us the Administration was reviewing U.S. participation in ITER. They said that if, at the end of the review, the Administration decided to continue U.S. participation in ITER, then DOE would set a performance baseline for the post-first plasma portion of the U.S. ITER Project.

Recommendation: To reduce uncertainty about the expected cost and schedule of the U.S. ITER Project and its potential impact on the U.S. fusion program, the Secretary of Energy should direct the Associate Director of the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences to direct the U.S. ITER Project Office to revise and update the project's cost estimate to meet all characteristics of high-quality, reliable cost estimates. Specifically, the U.S. ITER Project Office should revise the project's cost estimate to ensure it is credible by including a comprehensive sensitivity analysis that includes all significant cost elements and conducting an independent cost estimate.

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: DOE revised and updated the cost estimate for the first plasma portion of the U.S. ITER Project in November 2016. Officials reported that, as part of that update, the U.S. ITER Project Office completed a comprehensive sensitivity analysis and that the Office of Science's Office of Project Assessment had conducted a review of the revised cost estimate. However, as of June 2020, DOE had yet to revise and update the cost estimate for the post-first plasma portion of the U.S. ITER Project. DOE officials told us they planned to do so when they set a performance baseline for that portion of the project, which they expected to do if, at the end of an ongoing review, the Administration decided to continue U.S. participation in ITER.

Recommendation: To enhance NNSA's ability to better ensure the validity of its budget submissions, and to decide on resource trade-offs, the Secretary of Energy should direct the DOE Office of Budget to formally evaluate DOE Order 130.1 and revise as necessary, and communicate any revisions to the NNSA Administrator so that the agency will have updated provisions for assessing the quality of its budget estimates.

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: According to DOE's audit tracking system report, for the period ending 1/28/16, DOE Office of Budget was evaluating and revising DOE Order 130.1 as necessary to include planning, programming, budgeting, and evaluation (PPBE). The report states that the Office of Budget will communicate revisions to NNSA as appropriate with an estimated completion date of 9/30/16. According to a previous tracking system report, Order 130.1 was updated and placed in the management review process some time between 6/30/13, and 9/30/13. According to DOE, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer implemented a new funding execution system on 10/1/16. The development and implementation of the new system has delayed revision of DOE Order 130.1. The new system will impact the budget practices, planning, policies and processes content that will be outlined in the revised DOE 130.1. As of 6/30/20, DOE's Directives Review Board established an Integrated Project Team to revise the Department's Budget Formulation and Budget Execution Directives. Final approval of the revised guidance is anticipated by 9/30/20.

Recommendation: To ensure that federal funding efficiently and effectively responds to the countercyclical nature of the Medicaid program, Congress may wish to consider enacting an FMAP formula that is targeted for variable state Medicaid needs and provides automatic, timely, and temporary increased FMAP assistance in response to national economic downturns.

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of September 2020, no legislation had been enacted. GAO has testified on at least one bill that had been introduced in the Congress that would implement this Matter for Congressional Consideration. On February 10, 2016, GAO testified on considerations related to the Medicaid funding formula. See Medicaid: Changes to Funding Formula Could Improve Allocation of Funds to States GAO-16-377T January 26, 2016. We also cited this report in our discussion on Medicaid funding during economic downturns in Medicaid: Key Policy and Data Considerations for Designing a Per Capita Cap on Federal Funding (GAO-16-726). We cited this Matter in Opportunities to Improve the Federal Recovery and Response Efforts (GAO-20-625) and in COVID-19: Brief Update on Initial Federal Response to the Pandemic (GAO-20-708).