CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In May 2025, GAO identified eight priority recommendations for the Department of Commerce (Commerce). Since then, Commerce has implemented one of those recommendations. In July 2026, GAO added one priority recommendation, bringing the total to eight. GAO is highlighting the following two areas that warrant timely and focused attention: Improving planning for the decennial census, and Protecting personally identifiable information. Addressing GAO's recommendations in these areas could improve census cost and accuracy, particularly for hard-to-enumerate populations, and help Commerce protect personally identifiable information from unauthorized access, tampering, or loss. Takin.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found As of March 31, 2025, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) awarded 57 task orders across nine contracts since implementing the End State Contract Model (ESCM) in fiscal year 2020. The ESCM uses task orders for contractors to achieve a stated outcome, or “end state,” to move sites toward completion, manage cost and schedule performance, and reduce DOE’s environmental liability. About half (29) included defined end states and the remainder were for support work or cleanup work that did not yet have a defined end state. EM has not consistently achieved intended results for selected task orders GAO reviewed. Of the nine selected task orders com.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Many countries are undertaking efforts to manage, treat, and dispose of nuclear waste. Several have taken actions that accelerated cleanup, reduced risks, and resulted in cost savings—lessons that could inform the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) efforts. For example: The United Kingdom (UK) saved a total of at least £2 billion (equivalent to $2.6 billion as of March 2026) by implementing a risk-informed approach to managing its nuclear waste. This approach helped minimize how much waste would need disposal in a repository for waste low in radioactivity. Canada has prioritized accelerating cleanup activities at key nuclear waste sites. As a..
FEDE Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Rulemaking audits
National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts | Rule | The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is notifying the public that its civil monetary penalty amounts will not increase for the 2026 calendar year. The NEA is generally required by statute to amend its regulations annually to adjust for inflation the maximum civil monetary penalties (CMPs) that may be imposed for violations of the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (PFCRA) and the NEA's Restrictions on Lobbying. In accordance with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the NEA will continue to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels because there will be no cost-of-living adju.
CABI U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found TSA has taken some steps to communicate Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC®) program information with stakeholders. However, TSA relies on an ad hoc communication approach rather than a documented communication plan to determine how to share information with stakeholders. This has contributed to some stakeholders reporting that they experienced declining engagement with and delays receiving key program updates from TSA. Developing and implementing a communication plan could help TSA ensure that all stakeholders receive the information necessary to effectively operate the TWIC® program and reduce security risks. The Coast Guard does not share or analyze all..
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The unique needs of mothers and young children during disasters include appropriate sheltering, feeding and care supplies, medical and mental health support, and other services, according to relevant literature and disaster service providers from selected local, state, and nonprofit organizations. For example, large shelters may not be the best option for families with infants. Mothers also often need diapers, baby food, and infant formula. Service providers from 12 local, state, and nonprofit organizations GAO interviewed discussed ways they have supported mothers and young children—including pregnant or postpartum women and infants and children who are not yet in school—dur.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found In May 2025, GAO identified 39 priority recommendations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Since then, DHS has implemented five of these recommendations. GAO also closed two recommendations that were no longer valid. In July 2026, GAO identified an additional seven priority recommendations, bringing the total to 39. GAO is highlighting the following three areas that warrant timely and focused attention: Improving disaster preparedness and response, Enhancing information technology and cybersecurity, and Strengthening immigration and border security policies and data. Addressing GAO's recommendations in these areas would improve DHS and Federal Emergency Management.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) was enacted in 1980, in part to address individuals’ and organizations’ ability to challenge or defend themselves against civil or administrative actions involving the federal government. EAJA authorizes the award of legal fees to parties that prevail against the federal government and meet other eligibility criteria, under certain circumstances. Federal agencies reported paying over $116 million for about 15,000 EAJA awards, on average per year from fiscal years 2019 through 2025. Among the three selected agencies GAO reviewed, the agencies reported the following EAJA data to the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) for.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Rideshare and taxi services help meet the transportation needs of people in the U.S, but stakeholders have raised questions about the services’ safety. Available data sources do not provide a full picture of the number of rideshare and taxi assaults against drivers and passengers from 2021 through 2025. There is no federal requirement to collect such data, but GAO identified some sources at the federal, local, and industry level. For example: Two federal databases provide some information. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 20 nonfatal injuries to taxi and rideshare drivers due to violent acts by other people from 2023 through 2024, not including self-emplo.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA) requires the federal banking agencies to solicit and review public comments on their regulations to identify and eliminate outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations on insured depository institutions, as appropriate. How Federal Banking Agencies Conduct Decennial EGRPRA Reviews Outcomes from the EGRPRA reviews are often difficult to identify, and their connection to subsequent regulatory actions is often unclear. As a result, it can be difficult to determine the extent to which actions described in the EGRPRA report were driven by the review itself. For example, some actions described in.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found Most of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) major projects in development reported no schedule delays or cost overruns in the last year. These projects are in the phase of building and testing their designs. Two of these 18 projects reported annual schedule delays (totaling 2 months) and three reported cost overruns (totaling $501.4 million). Similarly, the portfolio’s cumulative costs and delays increased slightly, from $4.4 billion to nearly $4.7 billion and from 13.1 years to 14 years, respectively. The Orion crew capsule accounts for over half of the major projects’ annual cost overruns and almost 75 percent of their cumulative cost overruns. Cost a.
FEDE U.S. Government Accountability Office · Audits audits
What GAO Found The Office of Isotope Research and Development and Production (IRP), within the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, produced, sold, and distributed 265 isotopes during fiscal years 2020 through 2025. Many of these isotopes are critical to medical diagnosis and treatment, national security, industrial processes and manufacturing, and quantum science. IRP made over 7,700 isotope shipments, most of which were for medical purposes. Department of Energy Isotope Production Facility IRP assesses market needs for isotopes on a case-by-case basis and manually tracks interactions with industry, customers, and others. However, IRP has not systematically assessed needs or ali.
