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.
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
Federal Communications Commission | Proposed Rule | The Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to expand opportunities for direct-to-device (D2D) communications by permitting certain unlicensed devices to communicate with satellites on a non-interference basis. Building on recent market growth and new industry investment in D2D technologies, the NPRM explores adding satellite allocations in specific unlicensed bands, clarifying that equipment may operate within spacecraft, and establishing a flexible regulatory framework that preserves incumbent operations while enabling continued innovation. The Commission seeks comment on tech.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found During the rulemaking process, agencies are generally required to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and seek public comment before issuing a final rule. They can expedite the process and forgo this requirement when they find good cause that the process would be impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. This can occur, for example, when agencies are responding to natural disasters or public health emergencies. Agencies cited good cause reasons for expedited rulemaking for about 71 percent of major interim final rules GAO reviewed and that agencies published between January 20, 2013, and January 20, 2025. This is consistent with GAO’s 2012 repor.
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission | Rule | The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC") and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") (collectively, "we" or the "Commissions") are further extending the compliance date for the amendments to Form PF that were adopted on February 8, 2024, from October 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027. Form PF is the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds, including those that also are registered with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator (a "CPO") or a commodity trading adviser (a "CTA").
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Secret Service protects the President, Vice President, visiting foreign dignitaries, and others. From fiscal year 2015 through fiscal year 2025, the Secret Service’s budget increased while the number of its protectees fluctuated, particularly around changes in presidential administrations. During this time, there were 83 security incidents. The Secret Service updated its protection policies in response to 25 of them. Secret Service Policy Changes in Response to Incidents, Fiscal Years 2015–2025 Secret Service policy does not require that personnel document their rationale when they determine an incident does not warrant a protection policy update. However, Secret Service..
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Department of Defense (DOD) has not recently met statutory requirements to review and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of its defense agencies and DOD field activities (DAFA). Between April 2023 and September 2024, DOD conducted a review of four DAFAs. However, the department did not finalize the reports based on its reviews or submit the reports to Congress as required. DOD did not have formalized guidance, such as an instruction, in place when conducting these four DAFA reviews. In May 2026, DOD issued a memorandum for future DAFA reviews that includes responsibilities and deadlines. While this is a positive step, DOD previously issued a memorandum for this ef.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) require public companies to disclose information that investors would find important when making investment decisions. Disclosures include an annual audited financial statement and a description of risk factors and financial performance. Accounting firms that audit public companies must register with the nonprofit Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which Congress created in 2002 to focus on audit quality. Certain auditor responsibilities—such as evaluating a company’s accounting estimates and ability to continue as a going concern—can be particularly challenging in bank audits, according to PCAOB staff,.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses the National Simulator Program (NSP) to evaluate and oversee an increasing number of flight simulators. NSP’s oversight ensures that simulators accurately replicate the aircraft they simulate. From 1990 to 2025, the number of simulators increased by more than 500 percent, while the number of NSP staff remained steady. From 2019 through 2024, the number and type of simulator evaluations that NSP conducted remained relatively steady, as NSP implemented the Extended Evaluation Interval (EEI) program, among other strategies, to oversee the growing number of simulators. This program allows FAA to extend intervals between evaluations—f.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Army Corps of Engineers have key responsibilities for disaster response and recovery activities. Contracting with local businesses—those that reside or primarily do business in declared major disaster areas—is one way to fulfill their responsibilities. Both have policies and guidance to promote local vendor use, but they do not monitor associated data on this use. As a result, they do not know the extent to which they are using local vendors or helping jump-start the local economy. Further, the contracting officers that GAO interviewed were not always aware of how to identify the local disaster area. Under federal regulat.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In the first half of 2025, the President issued a series of executive orders directing federal agency heads—in consultation with the United States DOGE Service (also known as the Department of Government Efficiency) agency team leads—to review and terminate contracts in order to reduce federal spending, among other things. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted a department-wide review of over 17,000 contracts to assess their level of importance to the agency’s mission. This assessment resulted in DHS components completely or partially terminating contracts for cost savings. In addition, in March 2025, DHS began requiring approval by the Deputy Secre.
