FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
Why GAO Did This Study From September 2026 through December 2026, GAO is seeking input and feedback on this exposure draft from all interested parties. Please use this link [email protected] to provide us with comments on the guide. Federal agencies spend billions of dollars each year buying commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products. When agencies want to buy a COTS product, first they need to determine whether a vendor’s product is right for them. One way that agencies assess a product is by conducting testing and evaluation (T&E). Agencies can then use the results of the T&E to inform their purchasing decisions. Prior GAO work has identified problems with how agencies con.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Federal buildings often contain special use spaces like meeting rooms and conference centers, some of which may be shared across agencies. Agencies varied in how they shared these spaces in the selected General Services Administration (GSA)-owned and -leased buildings GAO visited. Interviewees, including officials from federal tenant agencies in those selected buildings, said that sharing these spaces can provide benefits, including: access to useful spaces their agency might not otherwise have, reduced costs and more efficient use of space (e.g., agencies do not need to lease or construct individual spaces), and increased collaboration between agencies. However, interviewees.
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
Agriculture Department, Forest Service | Proposed Rule | The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA or Department) is extending the public comment period for the proposed rule titled Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation, published in the Federal Register on August 20, 2026 (91 FR 53827). The notice of proposed rulemaking invited public comment on the proposed rule, the associated draft environmental impact statement, and cost benefit analysis, which were published simultaneously. The original comment period is scheduled to close on September 21, 2026. The Department is extending the comment period by 15 days to allow the public additional time to submit comments. The new deadline for com.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken few actions to enhance the resilience of farms and forests to the climate-related risks of diseases and pests, and funding and staffing supporting those actions have decreased.In late 2023, USDA officials told GAO that the risks of diseases and pests had not been fully integrated into the department’s climate resilience planning at all levels and that USDA planned to do so in the future. At that time, USDA provided limited information and technical assistance on individual diseases and pests to farmers and land managers. For example, USDA’s Climate Hubs provided some support for research on the effects of climate change on s.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found GAO found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) —a component within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)— partially followed leading practices for risk assessment and information quality during the development, operation, and maintenance of the National Risk Index (NRI). The figure below lists these practices. FEMA took steps to define and disseminate information about the purpose and scope of the NRI and provided additional information on the methodologies and data used to inform the index. However, FEMA did not consider what information users (e.g., emergency managers) would need to tangibly apply NRI results when making decisions about how to reduce risk.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)—a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)—and its eight contractor-managed and -operated sites engage in Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP). These projects allow NNSA sites to perform work for other federal agencies and nonfederal entities and for those entities to benefit from the significant public investment in the specialized facilities and scientific and technical expertise of NNSA sites. DOE requires NNSA sites to recover the full cost of the SPP through reimbursement from partners. SPP work was generally steady in fiscal years 2019 through 2024, with total reimbursed costs of almost $15 bil.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Based on data provided by the military services, GAO found that the services’ use of intergovernmental support agreements (IGSA) with state, local, and tribal government entities (public partners) for installation-support services increased from 45 across all DOD installations in 2018 to 316 in 2025. Officials from DOD, the Army and Navy, and selected military installations said they intend to promote future IGSA use. However, military services’ estimates of cost savings did not reflect best practices for cost estimation, which raises questions about their completeness and reliability. Further, the military services’ guidance related to estimating costs and cost savings did n.
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
Agriculture Department | Notice | Under 2 CFR parts 200 and 400. For assistance agreements awarded on or after December 26, 2014, 2 CFR part 400 implements OMB regulations in 2 CFR part 200. FAS grant programs plan to collect the information from grant applicants needed to evaluate and rank applicants and protect the integrity of the grantee selection process. All FAS grant programs will be eligible but not required to use the uniform grant application package (concept papers, full application, terms and conditions, agreements, amendments as well as performance report). The authorities for these grants vary. The term "grant" in this submission refers only to non-entitlement discretionary co.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)—a federal agency that helps combat financial crimes—issued guidance on how financial institutions can serve cannabis-related businesses (CRB) while complying with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements. This guidance instructs institutions to gather thorough information on CRB customers and file suspicious activity reports for certain transactions involving CRBs. Federal banking regulators help oversee institutions’ compliance with these requirements through BSA examinations. Financial institutions consider various factors when deciding whether to serve CRBs, according to GAO’s focus groups and interviews. Factors dissua.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is the sector risk management agency (SRMA) for the U.S. chemical sector, responsible for implementing programs to assist facility owners and operators in identifying and mitigating security risks. In 2007, DHS established a regulatory program to mitigate security risks for high-risk chemical facilities. As part of this program, CISA required facilities to vet their personnel and certain unescorted visitors for terrorist ties against the U.S. government’s terrorist watchlist. Vetting against the U.S. terrorist watchlist is an inherently governmental function that the private se.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In April 2025, GAO identified 13 priority recommendations for the Department of State. Since then, State has implemented six of those recommendations, and GAO removed the priority status from two recommendations. In September 2026, GAO identified an additional four priority recommendations, bringing the total to nine. GAO is highlighting the following two areas that warrant timely and focused attention: Managing fraud risks, and Strengthening oversight of U.S. security assistance. Addressing GAO’s recommendations in these areas would help determine whether Ukraine used direct budget support funding as intended and support Congressional oversight of U.S. security assistance. T.
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
Interior Department, Land Management Bureau | Proposed Rule | The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to streamline its decision-making process for authorizing the construction and operation of qualifying oil and gas production sites and their associated rights-of-way (ROWs) in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (the Petroleum Reserve or NPR-A). This proposed rule would establish pre-defined criteria for defined and repeatable common activities with similar environmental effects that, when met by an applicant, would result in a streamlined permitting process for qualifying production sites.
