FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found According to a 2023 RAND report, an average of 1.4 million veterans faced food insecurity each year from 2015 to 2020, meaning their households did not have enough food for an active and healthy life. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income households to buy food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers SNAP in partnership with states. The share of veterans receiving benefits varies by state, according to GAO’s analysis of Census Bureau data. Estimated Percentage of Veterans Who Lived in Households Receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits by State in 2024 States have the option to conduct outreach..
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Illicit actors hide their beneficial ownership in multiple ways to fraudulently access federal awards, such as contracts, grants, and Medicare payments, and to evade payment on taxes. GAO’s review of federal cases highlights tactics illicit actors have used, such as using stolen identities, shell companies, professional enablers, and pass-through billing schemes to hide ownership. For example, from July 2019 through January 2023, three purported hospice owners stole identities to register shell companies and defrauded Medicare for nearly $16 million. In another example, from June 2018 through September 2018, a foreign-based scam ring, with U.S. based conspirators, directed le.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a policy to end harassment-related behaviors—including harassment of a non-sexual nature, sexual harassment, and sexual assault—at its VA medical centers. The policy gives certain VA medical center staff responsibility for managing reported incidents of these behaviors involving veterans. GAO’s analysis of VA data found there were over 31,000 reported incidents from fiscal years 2020 through 2025. Most involved veterans (or other patients) who engaged in these behaviors against staff. Number of Reported Incidents of Harassment-Related Behaviors Involving Veterans at VA Medical Centers, Fiscal Years 2020-2025 However, the data on rep.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The nation’s infrastructure relies on information systems to support its varied functions. This includes the networked Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) devices that interact with the physical world, including in building maintenance systems and specialized equipment in hospitals and laboratories. Responsible federal agencies have issued guidance, best practices, and requirements to help agencies securely procure such devices. For example, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued requirements to ensure that agencies establish and maintain inventories of their networked devices and process IoT cybersecurity waivers. However, most agencies hav.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In response to multiple executive orders issued beginning in January 2025, selected agencies have made changes, some significant, to their foreign assistance programming and staffing. Eight of the nine agencies included in GAO’s review decreased funding (e.g., obligations) for foreign assistance awards. One agency did not decrease the number of awards but has been unable to disburse funds to awardees since January 2025. Most notably, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) terminated approximately 6,780 of 7,510 awards between January 2025 and March 2026, according to State data. The value of obligations of the terminated awards from their beginning until March..
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has made guidance, grants, and specialized staff available to state and local governments and other organizations that support disaster survivors, including people with disabilities. FEMA has some guidance for state and local partners on incorporating the needs of people with disabilities into disaster planning and response. FEMA has also offered training for its partners on including people with disabilities in disaster operations but removed this training from its curriculum in 2025 to ensure compliance with various Executive Orders, according to officials. It has now been over a year since the training was offered. Without thi.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is responsible for providing enrolled veterans access to reproductive health care, including fertility care. From fiscal years 2022 through 2025, VHA data show that approximately 8 million veterans used some type of VHA health care. Around 30,000 veterans had an infertility diagnosis in fiscal year 2025, an increase from the approximately 19,000 veterans with an infertility diagnosis in fiscal year 2022. VHA officials said there may be several reasons for the increase, such as expansions VHA made to eligibility for fertility care in 2024. Number of Veterans with an Infertility Diagnosis,..
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the most recent data available at the time of review, 11 federal agencies issued $4.4 billion in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, split almost equally between open and conventional topics. For open topics, agencies define broad areas of interest, and small businesses submit proposals defining potential agency needs and solutions. In contrast, for conventional topics, agencies define specific problems, and small businesses submit proposals that address those needs. One goal of SBIR and STTR is to increase commercialization of federally funded research and development (R&D), such as by sell.
CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Four agencies in GAO’s review—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Department of Education, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams and collectively reported that those teams had access to more than 23 systems. These systems were used to manage contracts, grants, human resources, and finances and contained sensitive information, including personally identifiable information (PII). However, whether DOGE team members had specific system permissions or were allowed certain actions (e.g., view PII or modify data) could not be determined based on th.
CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Fires on vessels are among the most dangerous and challenging incidents to which firefighters can respond. Vessels may also carry hazardous cargo, like lithium-ion batteries, further complicating marine firefighting responses. According to U.S. Coast Guard data, there were 886 nearshore marine fires that occurred between 2015 and 2025. About one quarter (206) of these resulted in either death, injury, over $200,000 in damage, or a total loss of the vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard is the principal federal agency responsible for overseeing marine safety. For marine firefighting, the Coast Guard plays a coordinating role while land-based fire departments extinguish fires. Following.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found GAO convened a panel discussion to gather industry perspectives on potential duplication or conflict among federal cybersecurity regulations affecting selected critical infrastructure sectors. The industry participants identified multiple federal cybersecurity regulations within their sectors as duplicative or conflicting with other regulations (see figure below). In such cases, participants said it could be difficult to fully satisfy all reporting requirements while remediating cyber threats. Number of Duplicative or Conflicting Federal Cybersecurity Regulations Identified by Selected Industry Sector Representatives For example, participants in all three sectors noted that t.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The average number of noncitizens incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) each year decreased 44 percent from fiscal year 2017 (approximately 36,300) through fiscal year 2024 (approximately 20,300). This includes noncitizens with lawful immigration status. During this time, noncitizens, as a proportion of all BOP-incarcerated individuals, also decreased. Immigration-related offenses accounted for more than half of the offenses for which BOP-incarcerated noncitizens were convicted; another 30 percent were drug-related. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed approximately 84,800 (76 percent) of the 111,200 noncitizens who completed, at least one term of BO.
