Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Effective Use of Billions in Funding
Description
On June 30, 2026, Triana McNeil, Director, U.S. Government Accountability Office, testified about Coast Guard's efforts to modernize its operations and capabilities before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
Since 2019 GAO has reviewed some of the Coast Guard's modernization efforts and steps it took to incorporate leading practices and address issues. While the Coast Guard has made progress, it could be doing more. For example, we previously found that it didn't fully assess its workforce needs.
The Coast Guard has received billions of dollars to carry out its current modernization efforts but is still falling short. For example, it doesn't have a plan to assess whether current efforts are working. Our recommendations address this and more.
Since 2019 GAO has reviewed some of the Coast Guard's modernization efforts and steps it took to incorporate leading practices and address issues. While the Coast Guard has made progress, it could be doing more. For example, we previously found that it didn't fully assess its workforce needs.
The Coast Guard has received billions of dollars to carry out its current modernization efforts but is still falling short. For example, it doesn't have a plan to assess whether current efforts are working. Our recommendations address this and more.