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Audits

Topic: Audits

FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits

K-12 Education: Facility Issues Led About One in Five Districts to Cancel School in 2024-25, Affecting 2 Million Students

What GAO Found Chronic facility issues disrupted teaching and learning in schools nationwide in school year 2024-25, according to GAO’s nationwide survey of districts. GAO estimates that nearly one in five districts (19 percent) canceled school that year due to a facilities issue. These cancellations affected an estimated 2 million students, who lost an estimated 3.5 million days of learning as a result. Top reasons districts canceled school included plumbing emergencies and extreme classroom temperatures. One district GAO visited canceled school after classroom temperatures reached 110 degrees. GAO also estimates that nearly half of districts (47 percent) had chronic facility issues that o.

CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits

National Register of Historic Places: Selected States and Tribes Identified Challenges to Participation

What GAO Found The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of historic places worthy of preservation. The National Park Service (NPS) administers the National Register in cooperation with states and Tribes. Each state has established a State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) whose responsibilities include identifying and nominating eligible properties to the National Register. Additionally, Tribes may elect to establish a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO). Officials from SHPO offices GAO interviewed identified a number of challenges with the National Register process, including that some key NPS guidance documents were outdated and did not have inform.

FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits

Testing and Evaluation Guide: Best Practices for Commercial Off-the-Shelf Systems (Exposure Draft)

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

Federal Real Property: GSA Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Agencies’ Awareness of Meeting Spaces List

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.

CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits

COVID-19: Federal Efforts and Stakeholder Views on Expediting the Transportation of Personal Protective Equipment

What GAO Found Personal protective equipment (PPE)—such as masks and gloves—helps minimize exposure to hazards, including illnesses. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–May 2023), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) expedited the transportation of PPE by air and helped mitigate supply chain challenges. FEMA. From March through June 2020, FEMA conducted Project Airbridge, in which FEMA paid for the air transportation of PPE from overseas to the U.S. to reduce shipment times. FEMA funded 437 flights to transport approximately 1.2 billion PPE items, primarily gloves, masks, and gowns. DOT. DOT used selected legal authorities to.

FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation

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

Agricultural Diseases And Pests: Nationwide Assessment and Strategy Needed to Enhance the Climate Resilience of Farms and Forests

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

Disaster Risk: Improvements Needed to Enhance FEMA’s National Risk Index

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

Nuclear Security Enterprise: Strategic Partnership Projects Can Support Mission, Operations, and Research

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

DOD Installation Services: Action Needed to Improve Oversight of Intergovernmental Support Agreements

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

Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Banking Services: Cannabis Businesses Face Access Challenges

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.