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Open Recommendations

Homeland Security: Actions Needed to Address Acquisition Workforce Challenges and Data
GAO-25-107075
Dec 12, 2024
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the Under Secretary for Management develops a strategy to assess whether its mitigation efforts are aligned with the challenges facing the acquisition workforce and to monitor results, such as establishing and tracking performance metrics for the efforts it is using to address workforce challenges. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that as the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management continues to refine its staffing model, that it continues to identify and implement greater process efficiencies in its data collection efforts on the workforce supporting major acquisition programs, and works with components to identify what, if any, additional data and resources are needed to meet the model's intended goals, including justifying staffing needs and generating appropriate staff compositions for current and future programs. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the Under Secretary for Management establishes a methodology for identifying information about the personnel supporting the 11 DHS-defined acquisition disciplines that make up DHS's acquisition workforce. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer identifies methods to ensure it maintains comprehensive data across all 11 disciplines that constitute the acquisition workforce, such as identifying additional acquisition workforce data from the components or requiring acquisition personnel to regularly update their records in Cornerstone. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Foreign Service Promotions: State Should Improve Documentation and Consider Expanding Demographic Representation on Selection Boards
GAO-25-106956
Nov 18, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent documents its assessment of the usefulness of the leading practices identified in the benchmarking study for its reform initiative. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent documents how GTM specifically defines the established requirements for selection board members. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent consider how best to make certain that selection board member composition better reflects the Foreign Service, including ethnicity and disability status. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Clean Energy: New DOE Office Should Take Steps to Improve Performance Management and Workforce Planning
GAO-25-106748
Nov 14, 2024
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Director of OCED should take steps to fully implement leading practices related to performance management. These practices include defining goals and outcomes for all OCED activities; collecting performance information to measure progress toward goals; and using that information to assess results, make decisions, and ensure accountability. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Energy The Director of OCED should take steps to fully implement leading practices for effective workforce planning by developing a strategic workforce plan and processes to monitor and evaluate progress toward OCED's human capital goals. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Recruitment and Retention in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories
GAO-25-106527
Oct 15, 2024
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12 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service should examine the effectiveness of the agency's efforts to communicate information that helps support applicants in the noncontiguous U.S. with the federal hiring process. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), concurred with this recommendation. FWS described actions they plan to take to address this recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information from the agency.
National Park Service The Director of the National Park Service should examine the effectiveness of the agency's efforts to communicate information that helps support applicants in the noncontiguous U.S. with the federal hiring process. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the National Park Service (NPS), concurred with this recommendation. NPS described actions they are already taking and plan to take to address this recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information from the agency.
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency should evaluate the agency's efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, including human capital flexibilities, from staff in the noncontiguous U.S. to identify and address opportunities for improvement. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), did not concur with this recommendation. FEMA explained the current efforts that it takes to obtain and use feedback and stated that these are sufficient, based on the percent of filled positions in the non-contiguous U.S. However, as discussed in the report, multiple officials in the noncontiguous U.S. described the challenges they experience due to their headquarters office not fully understanding their needs. Agency officials in the noncontiguous U.S. stressed they could use more guidance, procedures, or training on the resources available to them. Therefore, we maintain that evaluating its efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, could help FEMA ensure it is addressing the concerns of those responsible for hiring personnel.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service should evaluate the agency's efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, including human capital flexibilities, from staff in the noncontiguous U.S. to identify and address opportunities for improvement. (Recommendation 4)
Open
The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), concurred with this recommendation. FWS described actions they plan to take to address this recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information from the agency.
National Park Service The Director of the National Park Service should evaluate the agency's efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, including human capital flexibilities, from staff in the noncontiguous U.S. to identify and address opportunities for improvement. (Recommendation 5)
Open
The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the National Park Service (NPS), concurred with this recommendation. NPS described actions they plan to take to address this recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information from the agency.
Transportation Security Administration The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration should evaluate the agency's efforts to obtain and use feedback on hiring, recruitment, and retention practices, including human capital flexibilities, from staff in the noncontiguous U.S. to identify and address opportunities for improvement. (Recommendation 6)
Open
The Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), concurred with this recommendation. In December 2024, TSA provided updated information related to this recommendation. We will update the status of this recommendation accordingly after we complete our review of the additional information.
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