Reports & Testimonies

The federal government needs a highly skilled and specialized workforce to carry out many of its missions, including cybersecurity or acquisitions. Federal agencies look to the Office of Personnel Management for guidance on closing gaps in the skills and experience of their workforces. But OPM has similar gaps of its own that could prevent it from helping other agencies. OPM has taken steps to address...

Employers that hold a special certificate from the Department of Labor can pay people with disabilities wages below the federal minimum wage. We found that about 120,000 workers were employed under these certificates, with half earning less than $3.50 an hour. DOL oversees the certificate program, in part, by reviewing employers' applications and ensuring that they pay workers the correct wages. However, DOL has no...

The Veterans Health Administration provides health care services for more than 9 million veterans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, VHA found itself short-handed and needed to hire more clinical staff—such as doctors and nurses—quickly. VHA modified its hiring practices to allow new clinical staff to start work before finishing some time-consuming tasks like fingerprint checks and physical exams. But VHA's main hiring system doesn't accurately track...

In 2016, Congress set deadlines for the Environmental Protection Agency to review health and environmental impacts of certain chemicals already in use, starting initially with 10 chemicals. It also required EPA to determine the safety of certain new chemicals before they can be manufactured. We found that EPA: Missed most deadlines for reviews of existing chemicals since 2016 Typically met the deadline less than 10%...

The Veterans Health Administration provides health care to over 9 million veterans. It is responsible for ensuring that its providers are qualified, competent, and suitable to provide care. The Drug Enforcement Administration requires VHA medical centers to get a waiver before employing anyone with a controlled substance-related felony conviction whose job gives them access to such substances. But VHA doesn't have a waiver policy and...

Charter schools are publicly-funded schools that are governed by independent organizations. The Department of Education awards "Charter Schools Program" grants to help open or expand charter schools across the nation. We reviewed charter schools that received funds from these grants between 2006-2020. The schools generally had higher student enrollment growth compared to similar charter schools that did not receive a grant. We also found that...

The Department of Education gives grants to schools and organizations to help disadvantaged students—including students with disabilities—prepare for, enroll in, and graduate from college. The Student Support Services program is its only college access program whose target population specifically includes students with disabilities. But Education does not collect complete information about the disability status of the students helped through the program. As a result, it...

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) assess the ethics and safety of research studies involving human subjects, such as behavioral studies or clinical trials for new drugs or medical devices. Health and Human Services oversees about 2,300 U.S.-based IRBs through routine or for-cause inspections to assess if they are following federal laws when reviewing research. But few IRBs are inspected. For example, one HHS agency aims to...

Climate change will negatively affect crop and livestock production in some regions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing and sharing information about climate change with farmers and ranchers. USDA also plans to better integrate climate resilience into agency decision-making. We identified 13 options that USDA could integrate into its ongoing climate resilience planning. One option is to expand "technical assistance" or expert advice provided...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers subsidized crop insurance to protect farmers from financial losses, such as from poor harvests and declines in market prices. This snapshot identifies changes Congress could make to the program to reduce its costs. We have previously suggested that Congress: Reduce subsidies to high-income participants by creating an income limit Adjust compensation to insurance companies to better align with market...

The Financial Report of the U.S. Government provides a comprehensive view of government finances, including revenues, costs, assets, liabilities, and long-term sustainability. We audit the financial statements in that report each year, but we haven't yet been able to determine if they are fairly presented. This year, it was primarily due to: Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense Unresolved differences in balances...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures over $9 trillion in deposits, and protects your money if your FDIC-insured bank fails. We audit and issue opinions annually on financial statements of FDIC's insurance funds and on related internal controls (e.g., processes to reasonably assure that transactions are properly authorized and recorded). We found that the statements were reliable and that FDIC's controls over financial reporting were...

In recent years, we and others have raised questions about whether Veterans Health Administration has the clinical workforce to meet the health care needs of veterans in the U.S. Pacific territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. We reviewed VHA vacancy trends and more. VHA employed 88 staff across the territories as of Sept. 2022, with most working in...

Federal systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Our High Risk report identified 10 critical actions for addressing federal cybersecurity challenges. In this report, the last in a series of four, we cover the 2 actions related to Protecting Privacy and Sensitive Data: Improve federal efforts to protect privacy and sensitive data, such as reducing the cybersecurity risks in retirement plans Improve the protection of federally collected...

"Digital twins" are virtual representations of physical objects, processes, or systems—like factories, traffic patterns, and even people. A digital twin is used to predict how changes may affect its physical counterpart. For example, a city could use a digital twin to monitor its energy use to plan for extreme weather. Digital twins have benefits, like making manufacturing more efficient, but they can raise technical, security...

There are thousands of abandoned hardrock mine features—e.g., pits or tunnels—on federal lands, which can pose risks to human health or wildlife. The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture spent about $109 million and $10 million, respectively, to clean up such contamination during FYs 2017-2021. Both agencies said they have more abandoned hardrock mines than funds to clean them up. But the agencies haven't clearly...

Adult drug courts are specialized courts for criminal offenders with substance use disorders. They work to divert individuals from the criminal justice system by offering drug treatment and rehabilitation services and incentives like reduced jail time. We looked at reasons why some individuals may not participate in these programs. We found that some people may not be eligible because of violent criminal records or mental...

Our past work and other research shows that veterans—especially those living in rural areas—can have trouble getting the mental health care they need. Veterans Health Administration officials confirmed that veterans living in rural areas face unique barriers to accessing mental health care, such as staff shortages in rural facilities and transportation issues. VHA assesses its intensive mental health care programs but doesn't specifically monitor rural...

Congress created 4 new unemployment insurance programs to support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this expansion, the amount of fraud in these programs increased. We estimate that, during the pandemic, total fraud in these programs was over $60 billion and perhaps much higher. The Department of Labor has issued guidance, provided funding to states, and recommended improvements to state unemployment insurance programs to address...

The IRS relies extensively on its IT systems to collect taxes and distribute refunds. However, much of its IT infrastructure is outdated, which can increase cybersecurity risks, staffing issues, and costs. As of August 2022, the IRS had 21 modernization initiatives, including 9 to replace its outdated IT systems. However, 6 of those 9 initiatives did not specify how they would dispose of outdated systems—a...