gao_reports
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| package_id | title | date_issued ▲ | report_number | document_type | doc_class | abstract | subjects | public_laws | usc_references | statute_references | citation | pdf_url | html_url | detail_url | sudocs |
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| GAO-27-108779 | U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness: Staff Placed on Administrative Leave Have Returned and Await Direction | 2026-10-02 | GAO-27-108779 | What GAO Found The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) is an independent establishment in the executive branch that coordinates the federal response to homelessness. It consists of representatives from designated federal agencies (the Council) and a staff that has ranged from 10 to 18 full-time employees over the past decade. USICH’s enabling legislation—the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act—requires it to maintain certain personnel and perform specified duties. These include providing technical assistance to state and local governments through five to 10 regional coordinators employed by the Council, reporting annually to the President and Congress on federal efforts to address homelessness, and developing a national strategic plan to end homelessness. The act also established a termination date for USICH, which Congress has extended several times, most recently to October 1, 2028. The President’s most recent budget proposes to terminate USICH in fiscal year 2027. USICH began making changes to its staffing and operations in early 2025, including in response to Executive Order 14238, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. In April 2025, 11 of USICH’s 13 employees were placed on paid administrative leave. In the same month, the General Services Administration terminated USICH’s office lease and recovered its equipment. In November 2025, a federal district court found that USICH’s implementation of the executive order was unlawful. The court noted that the personnel reduction made it impossible for USICH to perform its statutory duties, among other things. The court set aside USICH’s prior actions to implement the order and barred it from doing so in the future. USICH has appealed the decision. Selected Developments Affecting the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), January 2025–September 2026 Eight of 11 USICH employees returned from paid administrative leave in mid-February 2026. The other three left USICH prior to employees’ return to active status. As of May… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-27-108779 | ||||||||||
| GAO-27-109056 | Innovation in Action: Getting You Up to Speed on Manufacturing | 2026-10-02 | GAO-27-109056 | This Scroll-Driven Narrative tells the story of how the federal government is trying to strengthen U.S. manufacturing through Manufacturing USA—a national network of institutes that are partnerships between federal agencies, companies, universities, and others. It is a companion to a series of reports GAO has issued examining the Manufacturing USA program—for example, Advanced Manufacturing: Aligning Strategies and Improving Agency Reviews Could Help Institutes Achieve National Goals, GAO-25-107369. This product highlights key themes and recommendations from GAO’s prior work, such as recommendations to better measure performance across the Manufacturing USA network, as well as agency efforts to implement them. For more information, contact Hilary M. Benedict at benedicth@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-27-109056 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107729 | Public Health Preparedness: Action Needed to Address National and Biosecurity Risks Associated with Disposal of Federal Laboratory Equipment | 2026-10-01 | GAO-26-107729 | What GAO Found The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sold 1,316 pieces of unneeded laboratory equipment in fiscal years 2022 through 2025. Of that 1,316, GAO identified nine pieces of equipment–freeze dryers and mass spectrometers–that were on the Commerce Control List and sold to individuals and companies in the U.S. and Canada, some of which appeared to be resellers. These items are subject to export controls because they could be used by certain countries of concern to develop biological weapons or to gain a military advantage. Examples of Laboratory Equipment on the Commerce Control List GAO found that HHS and USDA, in selling the nine pieces of equipment, did not report to the General Services Administration (GSA) that the items were on the Commerce Control List, as required by federal regulations. GAO identified two reasons: HHS’s policy is silent on this requirement and GSA’s property management system does not have a standard approach, such as a specific field, for agencies to report this information. Until HHS revises its policy and GSA creates a standard approach, GSA and potential recipients may not know when items are subject to export controls, risking harm to national security. GAO also found that HHS and USDA have not assessed the biosecurity risks associated with the disposal of its laboratory equipment. These risks include nefarious actors acquiring such items to create a biological weapon or obtain sensitive information from the equipment. This is because agency efforts have focused on decontamination of laboratory equipment, among other reasons. Regularly assessing the biosecurity risks and taking steps, as needed, to mitigate risks as part of HHS’s and USDA’s overall risk management efforts, could better position the agencies to prevent nefarious actors from procuring federal equipment. To illustrate risks, GAO used fictitious identities, including that of a nonprofit organization, to successfully acquire four pieces of HHS and US… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107729 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108195 | Tobacco Products: FDA Should Monitor Timeliness of Application Reviews | 2026-10-01 | GAO-26-108195 | What GAO Found In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its authority to oversee all tobacco products, including millions of e-cigarettes that were already on the market. In response, it received a surge of applications from manufacturers in 2020 for products seeking authorization to remain on the market legally. Specifically, it received over 25 million applications in 2020 and 2021, compared to just over 1 thousand applications in 2018 and 2019. This led to a backlog of applications. While FDA has since reviewed most of the applications submitted during this period, almost 132 thousand remained without a completed review as of December 31, 2025. (See figure.) Figure: FDA Tobacco Product Application Reviews, Calendar Year (CY) 2018-2025 From CY2018 to CY2025, FDA took an average of 507 days to complete its review of tobacco product applications. FDA has goals for each phase of the review process, ranging from 7 to 180 days. For the screening phase, FDA did not meet its goals, although it has made progress toward them. FDA also has goals for the last phase of review, when it must review an application’s scientific information. However, FDA’s data system was not designed to track steps in this part of the review process. Thus, it does not collect the data necessary to monitor whether it is meeting these goals. According to practices identified in prior GAO work, collecting performance information and using it to monitor performance are needed to assess if programs and activities are achieving intended goals. Meeting these goals will help FDA ensure a more predictably timed application process, and more completed reviews will help clarify which products are legally marketed, thus allowing FDA to take action against unauthorized products. FDA has taken steps to improve review timeliness. For example, since the surge of applications, it issued multiple guidance documents for manufacturers to improve application quality, as it found that poor quality applications slowed the review process. In Sep… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108195 | ||||||||||
| GAO-27-108111 | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Federal Actions Needed to Help Veterans Access Benefits | 2026-10-01 | GAO-27-108111 | 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 to increase awareness of SNAP and may target outreach to certain groups, such as veterans. States must have a USDA-approved outreach plan to receive partial federal reimbursement for their outreach expenses. Most states with outreach plans in fiscal year 2026 (39 of 47) identified veterans as a target group. However, stakeholders GAO interviewed reported that veterans' misconceptions about SNAP hinder outreach efforts. USDA has not developed outreach materials tailored to veterans in the past 5 years, despite recent program changes for veterans. Several stakeholders said that outreach materials, such as talking points dispelling myths about SNAP, would help them communicate more effectively with veterans. By developing and disseminating such materials, USDA could help ensure that trusted messengers, like veterans’ organizations, share accurate and up-to-date information on the program with food-insecure veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and USDA established a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to address veteran food insecurity in September 2023. However, the agencies’ collaborative efforts have slowed since April 2025 following the loss of key staff at USDA, according to VA officials. Agency officials told GAO they consider the MOA to still be in place; however, the agencies have not reviewed the MOA as speci… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-27-108111 | ||||||||||
| GAO-27-108631 | State Department: Fly America Act’s Effects on Travel Costs and Personnel Experience | 2026-10-01 | GAO-27-108631 | What GAO Found The Fly America Act requires that, except under certain circumstances, all air travel funded by the U.S. government use a U.S.-flag air carrier service—which is generally provided by a U.S. airline or under a code share agreement with a foreign air carrier. GAO found that the Act increases State Department travel costs by an estimated $0.7 million to $1.5 million annually—about 1 to 2 percent of the $69 million State spent on air travel in fiscal year (FY) 2025. To derive this estimate, GAO analyzed a generalizable sample of simulated international travel itineraries for FY 2026. This sample consisted of 1,000 ticket pairs, each containing the least expensive unrestricted fare and most direct flight available for an Act-compliant ticket and -noncompliant ticket. For 5 percent of ticket pairs, GAO estimated that the Act increases State’s costs (reflecting both fare and travel time) by an average of $455 per ticket. For an additional 12 percent of ticket pairs, GAO estimated that the Act does not affect State’s costs. For the remaining 83 percent of ticket pairs, the Act’s effects on cost are uncertain because they are subject to assumptions about airline pricing strategies, among other factors. Some State travelers experience challenges during urgent and routine travel as a result of the Acts, according to State documents, data, and officials. For urgent travel—for example, authorized or ordered departures from foreign posts and emergency travel for personal circumstances, such as for a funeral—Act-compliant flights can be difficult to find on short notice and approvals for exceptions may take time to process, according to officials. For routine travel, implementation of the Act poses challenges in three main categories: (1) compliant flight availability, (2) travel with pets, and (3) State’s administrative process to apply for an exception to the Act. In FY 2025, State approved employees’ applications for an exception to the Act, allowing them to use a foreign air carrier, for approximately 6 per… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-27-108631 | ||||||||||
| GAO-27-108012 | Flood Insurance: Congressional Action Could Help Increase Coverage for At-Risk Properties | 2026-10-01 | GAO-27-108012 | What GAO Found Most U.S. property owners are unprotected from flood risk. As of April 2026, 86 percent of high-risk properties did not have National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coverage. The number of NFIP policies declined from 5.5 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in 2026. Growth in the private market offset this decline, and private policies accounted for 14 percent of all policies in 2025. Federal law requires property owners with federally backed mortgages to purchase flood insurance if their property is in a special flood hazard area (SFHA) designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This mandatory purchase requirement is the primary reason consumers purchase flood insurance: an estimated 43 percent of properties in SFHAs had flood insurance, compared with 2 percent outside those areas. However, the requirement does not effectively ensure coverage for many at-risk properties. In particular, the FEMA maps used to determine the requirement do not capture all flood risks, especially heavy rainfall. GAO’s analysis of First Street data indicates that about 13 million high-risk properties are outside FEMA SFHAs. The Mandatory Purchase Requirement Does Not Reach Most At-Risk Properties Consumer misperceptions also can discourage flood insurance purchase. Consumers may underestimate their flood risk, overestimate the amount of federal disaster assistance after a flood, or believe that homeowners insurance covers flood damage when most policies specifically exclude it. GAO identified four actions that could help increase NFIP and private flood insurance coverage. Each would require statutory authority from Congress. Incorporating all sources of flood risk into purchase requirement determinations could help ensure that more at-risk properties have coverage. Making property-level flood risk information publicly available could increase awareness of flood risk. Requiring lenders to provide flood insurance quotes for federally backed mortgages could better signal the need for coverage. Inc… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-27-108012 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107414 | Combatting Illicit Drugs: DOJ and DHS Must Resolve Uncertainties Around Collaboration to Ensure Effective Counternarcotics Investigations | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-107414 | What GAO Found The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have entered into longstanding formal agreements to enhance their collaboration on counternarcotics investigations, including a June 2009 interagency cooperation agreement and a January 2021 joint letter. These agreements describe how DEA and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are to coordinate on investigations. They establish requirements for DEA to cross-designate (or allow) HSI special agents to engage in counternarcotics investigations under the Controlled Substances Act and for both agencies to deconflict case information and engage in joint training, among other things. More recently, GAO found that the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued two new documents since 2021 that relate to DEA and HSI collaboration on counternarcotics investigations—a January 2025 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion and a May 2026 memorandum from the Acting Attorney General. DOJ Documents Issued Since 2021 Related to DEA and ICE Collaboration Prior to the issuance of the May 2026 memorandum, GAO found that DEA and ICE’s collaboration generally addressed four out of eight leading collaboration practices, including defining common outcomes and clarifying roles and responsibilities. The four leading practices that DEA and ICE had not fully addressed (ensuring accountability, sustaining leadership, bridging organizational cultures, and updating agreements) involve activities required by the agreements. For example, DEA and ICE never fully sustained a functioning Headquarters Review Team, nor had they fully implemented joint training, which were required by the 2009 and 2021 agreements respectively to address collaboration challenges. As of June 2026, DOJ officials told GAO they were still determining how the May 2026 memorandum will impact existing requirements in the 2009 and 2021 collaboration agreements, including establishing the Headquarters Review Team and implementing the joint training. By clarifying the s… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107414 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109273 | Director of National Intelligence: Status of Open GAO Recommendations | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-109273 | What GAO Found GAO has made 139 recommendations to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from July 2011 through September 15, 2026. These recommendations address issues with intelligence enterprise management, infrastructure and facilities, workforce management, and personnel vetting. As of September 15, 2026, the Office of the DNI (ODNI) has implemented 76 recommendations, or 55 percent. GAO closed six additional recommendations for various other reasons, such as a program having terminated or changed. By fully implementing the 57 remaining open recommendations, ODNI could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its intelligence management and oversight. In July 2026, GAO identified six of these 57 as recommendations that ODNI should prioritize to improve intelligence operations and address high-risk issues. Why GAO Did This Study The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 includes a provision for the Comptroller General to submit a list to the Congressional Intelligence Committees and to the DNI of all GAO recommendations made to the DNI as of September 30, 2023, that had not been fully implemented, and annually thereafter through 2028. This letter and its enclosures is GAO’s fourth submission, which formally transmits and communicates the results of its work. For more information, contact Alissa Czyz at czyza@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109273 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109325 | Supplemental Material for GAO-25-107721: Summary of Key Changes in the 2025 Green Book Revision | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-109325 | This is a supplement to GAO’s 2025 revision of the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, known as the Green Book, GAO-25-107721. The 2025 revision contained changes from, and supersedes, the 2014 revision of the Green Book, GAO-14-704G. The purpose of this supplement is to present the key changes to the 2025 revision of the Green Book. Resources For more information or for technical assistance regarding the Green Book, please call (202) 512-9535 or e-mail greenbook@gao.gov. Visit GAO’s Green Book website for more information on applicable updates and alerts. To receive updates and information related to standards, send an email with the subject “Subscribe” to TheStandardsTeam@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109325 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109183 | VA Health Care: Prevalence Information Needed to Better Understand and Address Harassment Involving Veterans | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-109183 | 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 reported incidents likely do not capture all incidents of harassment-related behaviors. According to reports by stakeholders, most individuals who experience such behaviors do not notify the institutions at which the incidents occur. For example, several studies found that just 2 to 7 percent of individuals formally notify someone about experiencing sexual harassment. Individuals’ unwillingness to report is attributed to causes such as fear of retaliation. As a result, stakeholders have indicated the importance of identifying the prevalence of these behaviors, or their occurrence regardless of whether individuals notify someone, to better understand their potential within organizations. This can be done through anonymous or confidential surveys. VA officials said they collect information on veteran experiences with certain harassment-related behaviors at a subset of VA medical centers to inform policies and practices. However, VA has not implemented any effort to identify the systemwide prevalence of these behaviors. Implementing a means to do so, such as through a survey, would better allow VA to know whether increases in reported incidents reflect greater willingness to notify staff or an actual increase in these behaviors. It also would help VA more effectively direct resources toward prevention and mitigation efforts to … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109183 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108057 | Disaster Assistance: FEMA Actions Needed to Better Support People with Disabilities in Disasters | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-108057 | 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 this training, FEMA’s state and local partners risk not being able to effectively assist people with disabilities. FEMA also has regional staff who can coordinate with state and local partners to support people with disabilities, which state and local officials said was beneficial. However, this coordination has been inconsistent across regions, and this role is not standardized. Clearly documenting a responsibility for disability specialists to coordinate with state and local partners would help ensure equitable access to assistance for people with disabilities when a disaster happens. FEMA also makes information, grants, and staff support directly available to survivors with disabilities. For example: FEMA publishes disaster planning and recovery guidance for people with disabilities and caregivers on its website. FEMA’s individual assistance grants can provide financial assistance to replace assistive devices and medically required equipment, among other things. FEMA provides specialized services to help people with disabilities apply for grants, such as providing sign language interpretation via video. It also has staff who investigate complaints of discrimination based on disability. However, some people with disabilities may face obstacles when applying for grant assistance, according to stakeholders GAO interviewed… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108057 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108937 | Internet of Things: OMB Action Needed to Ensure Agencies Secure Their Networked Devices | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-108937 | 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 have not fully addressed OMB’s networked device requirements, which were established in December 2023 and updated in January 2025. Specifically, agencies’ initial inventories were required to be completed by September 2024. However, as of September 2026, of the 22 civilian Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies in GAO’s review, 15 had established an inventory, 11 were maintaining their inventories, and 10 had included all required information (such as asset description and software version) for each device. Overall, only seven agencies had fully addressed all three of OMB’s requirements. Further, no agencies had reported an IoT cybersecurity waiver. Status of 22 Agency Networked Device Inventories, as of September 2026 Agencies cited a variety of reasons for not having completed or maintained inventories with required information, including technical and resource constraints and competing priorities. However, OMB has yet to issue updated guidance to agencies that covers fiscal year 2026, leaving agencies without a clear imperative to prioritize implementation of the requirements and a timeline for doing so. Until OMB issues this guidance, agencies will lack appropriate direction on how and when to complete their device inventories. In the absence of inventories, agencies may lack awareness of the number and type of conn… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108937 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108607 | Foreign Assistance: Agencies Made Broad Changes, but State Lacked Guidance for Decisions | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-108607 | 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 2026 was $79.1 billion. The remaining active awards, now managed by State, represented about $52.1 billion as of March 2026. The Europe and Eurasia region had the highest dollar value of terminated awards but still has the highest dollar value of remaining active USAID awards. (see figure) State announced that USAID ceased administering foreign assistance awards as of July 1, 2025. Value of USAID Terminated and Active Awards by Region, March 2026 Note: Funding represents cumulative obligations from 2015 through March 2026 or the award termination date. All nine agencies decreased staff, including both headquarters and overseas personnel, from January 2025 up to May 2026. The most significant change occurred at USAID which decreased from about 13,600 staff worldwide in January 2025 to 241 staff in April 2026, according to USAID and government-wide data. State is now the primary provider of foreign assistance, but the full range of its workforce reductions is unknown because State was unable to produce data on its staffing levels during the eleven months that GAO requested it. Without readily available staffing data, State cannot effectively plan for operational requirements, respond to risks posed by its staffing changes, or address oversight needs. State also could not provide evidence of its guidance to staff including … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108607 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108174 | Fraud in Federal Programs: Limited Beneficial Ownership Information Available on Awardees | 2026-09-30 | GAO-26-108174 | 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 legitimate federal contractors to a fake government website. This pass-through billing scam caused the government to misdirect $23.5 million to the fraudsters. Pass-Through Billing Scam The federal award process requires recipients to disclose some information on company owners and relationships, but it generally does not require disclosure of beneficial owner information. For example, names of corporate officers and directors may be collected, but these individuals may not be the beneficial owners or exercise substantial control over the entity. Beneficial ownership information is available to a limited extent in data sources such as the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) company registry, the General Services Administration’s (GSA) System for Award Management, and state incorporation registries. Changes in the scope of reporting requirements now exempt domestic entities from reporting beneficial ownership information in the FinCEN registry. This exemption removed about 99 percent of entities previously required to report. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 includes a provision for the GSA to maintain a database that contains beneficial ownership information for federal contractors. A Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) case was opened in 2021 to implement… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108174 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108750 | Small Business Research Programs: Better Data Could Improve Insight into Companies’ Success | 2026-09-29 | GAO-26-108750 | 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 selling to private industry or to federal agencies. To help achieve this goal, Congress began requiring the Department of Defense (DOD) to release open topic solicitations in FY 2023. Open Topic Awards in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs, Fiscal Years 2019–2024 Incomplete data prevent agencies from evaluating commercialization outcomes for open and conventional topic awards. At specific milestones, small businesses are required to report to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on commercial activity resulting from past awards. SBA maintains this information in a statutorily required database. However, GAO’s review of FY 2019 through FY 2024 awards showed small businesses submitted required data for less than half of their prior awards. Not all agencies communicate reporting requirements to applicants or ensure that applicants submitted required reports. Better conveying requirements to small businesses and ensuring compliance with these requirements could improve the completeness of the commercialization database. Even if the share of companies submitting information increased, SBA officials said that they would not view the commercialization data as sufficiently reliable without validation and verification. They identified options to increase data rel… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108750 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108192 | DOGE: Congress and the Public Lack Assurance That Systems and Data Were Protected at Multiple Agencies | 2026-09-29 | GAO-26-108192 | 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 the information provided. The other two agencies in GAO’s review—Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—did not respond to requests for information to which systems DOGE team members had access to. CFPB, Education, and SEC provided limited documentation related to the extent to which they implemented controls for ensuring adherence to their IT security rules and their DOGE team members followed the rules. For example, CFPB demonstrated that six DOGE team members received a privacy briefing and four completed security training. Such training is important for ensuring that system users are aware of their responsibilities for addressing cyber and privacy risks. However, the bureau did not provide evidence that the remaining team members completed the necessary training. Education provided IT system rules of behavior documents signed by five of the six DOGE team members. Acknowledgment of these documents is key to holding system users accountable for not following IT security rules. However, the department did not respond to GAO’s repeated requests for the document signed by the remaining team member. SEC demonstrated that a background check was underway for one team member and had been conducted for another team member in 2017. These investigations are important for ensuring that syste… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108192 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108533 | Coast Guard: Additional Action Needed to Address Marine Firefighting Challenges | 2026-09-29 | GAO-26-108533 | 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 a marine fire that resulted in two firefighter deaths in 2023, the Coast Guard established a task force to address various marine firefighting challenges. The task force has taken several steps to address them but gaps remain. Examples of Firefighting Challenges, Coast Guard Actions, and Gaps Designating consistent Coast Guard field personnel to lead coordination before marine fires occur, facilitating more hands-on training for firefighters on vessels, and establishing an information sharing mechanism would help ensure firefighters have the knowledge and skills necessary to safely and effectively extinguish vessel fires. Further, developing guidance on what warrants vessel response plan activation would help ensure resources are quickly mobilized and better ensure the safety of firefighters. The number of vessels that use alternative fuels continues to grow. However, legal limitations prevent the Coast Guard from requiring nontank vessels that use alternative fuels—such as ferries powered by lithium-ion batteries—to have vessel response plans related to hazardous substance discharges. These limitations predate the widespread use of alternative fuels. Having that authority would empower the Coast Guard to better ensure vessels and firefighters can quickly receive assistance in the event of a fire. Why GAO Did This Stud… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108533 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107722 | Child Labor: DOL Action Needed to Better Protect Working Children | 2026-09-29 | GAO-26-107722 | What GAO Found An estimated 2.8 million children worked in the U.S. in 2023, according to GAO’s analysis. The Department of Labor (DOL) publishes statistical data that provide information on working children’s fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. These data are used to develop workplace safety strategies and policies, but data limitations and discontinued data sets have contributed to information gaps. For example: In DOL’s dataset on workplace fatalities, some data on the cause of death or industry in which the child worked are not publicly available. DOL changed how it collects data on working children’s injuries and illnesses, so data since 2021 cannot be compared to earlier years. Between 2015 and 2023, one DOL survey and two other federal datasets that contained child labor injury data ended. By mitigating child labor data gaps, DOL would be better positioned to identify and respond to dangerous working conditions for children. Since fiscal year 2015, the number of annual child labor violations that DOL cited and the number of children affected by their employers’ violations has generally increased, according to GAO’s analysis (see figure). Examples of violations include children working later than allowed or doing hazardous work such as operating meat processing machines. Cited Child Labor Violations and Children Affected, Fiscal Years 2015−2025 DOL recently launched an initiative to enhance its enforcement of child labor laws, but it faces some challenges. For example: DOL regional and district officials expressed concern with the data DOL recommended for targeting egregious child labor violations, including that the data were not detailed enough to provide useful investigation leads. DOL does not have a process to identify and evaluate additional data sources. DOL officials described persistent knowledge gaps among employers and the public on child labor laws. DOL implemented a communications strategy to raise awareness, but taking steps to measure and assess its outreach would help DOL u… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107722 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108492 | VA Health Care: Action Needed to Improve Fertility Care Communications and Eligibility Determination Process | 2026-09-29 | GAO-26-108492 | 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, Fiscal Years 2022-2025 VHA’s Office of Women’s Health communicates about available fertility care through various methods, such as a fertility webpage and brochures. GAO found some interested veterans may be unaware of VHA’s fertility care. For example, stakeholders said male veterans may not seek out or may find it difficult to seek out eligibility information because it comes from Office of Women’s Health. GAO determined that VHA has not implemented key performance practices related to its communication. By implementing such practices, VHA could better assess progress towards its communication goals and increase the effectiveness of its outreach to veterans about fertility care. This would allow VHA to identify and make any needed adjustments to better ensure its efforts reach veterans who may need fertility care. VHA changed its process for determining veterans’ eligibility for fertility care in October 2024. Under the change, VA medical center fertility teams are responsible for making these decisions instead of VHA at the national level. However, GAO identified challenges with the process after October 2024. For example, GAO found fertility team composition and skill level varied at selected facilities. VHA officials from these facilities said that it can be challenging to determine veterans’ eligibility, which can a… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108492 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108596 | IT Systems Annual Assessment: DOD Should Improve IT Fraud Risk Management Practices | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-108596 | What GAO Found To meet its mission to protect the security of our nation and provide warfighters the assets they need, the Department of Defense (DOD) relies heavily on the use of information technology (IT). According to DOD’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the department planned to spend $10.3 billion on the 18 major IT business programs from fiscal years (FY) 2024 through 2026. The four largest programs account for 50 percent of the planned spending (see figure). The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Planned Costs for the Four Largest Information Technology (IT) Business Programs Compared to the Remaining 14 Selected Programs from Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 through FY 2026 To help determine whether operational programs are meeting their business or mission purpose, programs are required by the General Services Administration to identify and track a minimum of five performance metrics across the categories of customer satisfaction, strategic and business results, financial performance, and innovation. Of the 18 programs, 17 were operational. Of these, 15 identified the minimum required number of performance metrics in each category. However, the remaining two did not. Accordingly, the extent to which these two programs were improving customer satisfaction, increasing financial performance, and delivering innovative approaches is unknown. GAO has previously reported on DOD IT business programs not fully reporting performance metric data and made recommendations to the department to do so (see GAO-22-105330 and GAO-25-107649). Regarding achieving performance goals, of the 17 programs that identified metrics, six programs met all performance targets, 10 programs met more than one target but not all, and one program met no targets. The IT programs demonstrated mixed progress in implementing key practices for fraud risk awareness, software development, and key cybersecurity initiatives. Developing fraud risk awareness—particularly in staff who manage key IT programs—is an important step toward maturing… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108596 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108737 | Nuclear Power: Actions Needed to Improve NRC’s Assessment of Its Workforce Needs | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-108737 | What GAO Found The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has faced longstanding challenges in hiring and retaining adequate staff. NRC officials and most of the stakeholders GAO interviewed stated that increased attrition and industry competition have affected NRC’s workforce more in recent years. GAO found that from July 2024 through June 2026, NRC lost, on net, about 500 staff in various positions, most of which were due to voluntary retirements. This loss of staff has increased concerns about the stability of NRC’s workforce. Total Number of NRC Employees from July 2024 Through June 2026 In July 2024, the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (ADVANCE Act), was enacted, granting NRC three enhanced authorities to support its workforce: (1) direct hire, (2) compensation flexibility, and (3) bonuses for hiring and performance. Between July 2024 and July 2026, NRC used the authority to award a total of $335,000 in performance bonuses to 18 staff but had not used the other two authorities. NRC officials cited various reasons for not using all of the authorities, including a recently completed agency reorganization and the need to conduct a comprehensive workforce evaluation and inventory to identify current workforce, project critical staffing needs, and forecast agency performance using its new strategic workforce planning tool. According to officials, the results can clarify the agency’s current and future workforce needs to effectively carry out licensing and oversight activities. However, NRC’s time frame for finalizing the tool has been delayed multiple times and is now planned for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. Until it is finalized, NRC may not be able to effectively conduct strategic workforce management and planning to best use the ADVANCE Act authorities to enhance its workforce going forward. NRC officials and most of the stakeholders GAO interviewed agreed that the ADVANCE Act authorities offer NRC additional flexibilities to better meet ag… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108737 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107902 | Nonimmigrant Visas: State Should Consistently Conduct Global Staffing Needs Assessments to Help Balance Workloads and Address Long Wait Times | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-107902 | What GAO Found Visitor visa adjudications, which account for most nonimmigrant visas (NIV), have surpassed pre-COVID numbers. The Department of State adjudicated 9.2 million visitor visas pre-COVID in fiscal year (FY) 2019. That number dropped to 1.5 million in FY 2021. By FY 2025, the number of adjudications surpassed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 11.7 million. The average wait time to obtain an interview for a visitor visa was almost 8 times higher than before the pandemic, increasing from 26 days in FY 2019 to 201 days in FY 2025. In addition, the number of consular officers working on NIVs almost recovered from a COVID-era low of 1,104 in FY 2021 to pre-pandemic levels in FY 2024, reaching 1,342, but dropped to 904 in FY 2025 due to hiring freezes and attrition. State officials in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico—the countries GAO selected for more in-depth analysis—identified low staffing levels relative to demand for visitor visas as the main factor, among others, contributing to wait times to obtain an interview. According to data provided by State, wait times to obtain an interview in Mexico and India are longer than in China and Brazil, in part because they have fewer staff working on NIVs relative to the number of applications they receive (see table). Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV) Applications, CA Officers working on NIVs, NIV Applications per CA Officer, and Weighted Average Interview Wait Times to Obtain an Interview by Selected Countries, Fiscal Year 2025 Country NIV applications CA officers working on NIVs NIV applications per CA officer Weighted average wait times, in days Brazil 1,141,235 87 13,118 32 China 1,206,011 119 10,135 34 India 1,455,255 68 21,401 346 Mexico 2,658,627 124 21,441 283 … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107902 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107448 | Criminal Justice: Data on Noncitizen Incarcerations, Convictions, Removals, and Costs | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-107448 | 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 BOP incarceration from fiscal years 2017 through 2024, as of December 2025. Individuals Incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons by U.S. Citizenship Status, Fiscal Years 2017 – 2024 There are no reliable comprehensive data on all noncitizens incarcerated by states and localities. GAO analyzed data from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). SCAAP is a Department of Justice (DOJ) program that reimburses jurisdictions for a portion of the eligible costs attributable to incarcerating noncitizens who meet program requirements. Though SCAAP data represent only a portion of all noncitizens incarcerated by states and localities, it provides valuable insights. In state fiscal year 2022, there were a total of approximately 73,500 SCAAP-eligible incarcerations, a decrease of 43 percent from state fiscal year 2016 when there were approximately 128,000 such incarcerations. SCAAP-eligible noncitizens incarcerated by the five state prison systems with the greatest number of SCAAP-eligible incarcerations were convicted of various offenses, including sex crimes, homicide, and drug offenses. DOJ spent more than $9 billion incarcerating noncitizens from fiscal years 2016 through 2023 (the most recent cost information available at the time of our audit work). This includes approximately $8 billion for BOP’s incarceration of… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107448 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109197 | Cybersecurity Regulations: Industry Panelists Identify Duplication and Conflicts and Ways to Address Them | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-109197 | 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 the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed rule for cyber incident reporting or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cybersecurity disclosure rules were duplicative and in conflict with their own sector’s regulations. Participants also identified duplication or conflict in sector-specific cybersecurity reporting requirements. While participants in all three sectors noted that progress in harmonizing federal cybersecurity regulations has been made over the past year—such as federal agencies providing increased regulatory guidance for financial institutions—half the participants agreed that this progress was limited. Participants also identified several opportunities for harmonizing federal cybersecurity regulations, including those related to cybersecurity incident reporting. Participants stated that defining reporting timeframes and thresholds in consistent ways could streamline requirements and reduce duplication. Participants also stated that having a lead agency to coordinate and receive incident reports would increase collaboration between government agencies and industry. Why GAO Did This Study Nearly all the nation’s critical infrastructure is supported by computer-based information systems. Because this infrastructure is mostly owned by the private sector, having the public and private sectors work togeth… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109197 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108061 | Firearms Trafficking to Mexico: Better Data and Performance Monitoring Would Help Agencies Direct Resources to Counter Cartels | 2026-09-28 | GAO-26-108061 | What GAO Found Transnational criminal organizations (TCO) in Mexico seek to acquire semi-automatic firearms—AR-15s, AK-47s, and .50-caliber rifles—which they often convert to fully automatic firearms, according to agency officials. Armed with these weapons, TCOs pose a serious threat to Mexican law enforcement and military. TCOs acquire firearms from the U.S. primarily through straw purchasers—third parties who buy them on the TCOs’ behalf—and middlemen who smuggle the firearms through ports of entry on the border. U.S. agencies collect data on trafficked firearms, but some data have limitations that limit their utility. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reported that 68 percent (82,785) of firearms recovered in Mexico and traced from January 2020 to December 2024 had a U.S. source. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data show that CBP seized 4,944 firearms bound for Mexico at land ports of entry on the border from January 2020 through December 2025. However, CBP’s data system does not consistently capture information on the semi-automatic rifles sought by TCOs, and some officers may have difficulty identifying specific types. Improved data on these types of rifles would strengthen federal agencies’ ability to generate intelligence to combat firearms trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico. U.S. agencies conduct various efforts to combat firearms trafficking but do not assess effectiveness. For example, in the U.S., CBP conducts targeted outbound inspections along the U.S.–Mexican border and DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations and ATF seek to disrupt firearms trafficking along the border. In Mexico, ATF helps Mexican authorities conduct investigations and trace firearms. The Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) provides security assistance to Mexican authorities to combat firearms trafficking. In fiscal years 2020–2025, ATF and INL provided about $126 million for these efforts. But DHS ha… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108061 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107830 | Naval Shipyards: Complete Information Needed for Decision-Making on Multibillion-Dollar, 50-Year Infrastructure Program | 2026-09-25 | GAO-26-107830 | What GAO Found The Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) will surpass $200 billion and take over 50 more years to execute, based on GAO’s analysis of Navy plans. Developing the plans and cost estimates to rebuild the Navy’s four public shipyards has taken the Navy years longer—and will cost much more—than originally anticipated due to multiple challenges and changes involved in the program. For example, environmental issues led to additional projects and more extensive work affecting project plans and costs at the shipyards, including Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (see figure). Seismic Risks Identified at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard The Navy established an oversight framework to guide SIOP plans and decisions over the duration of the program. The framework includes tools and requirements typically used for major defense acquisition programs—like for missiles, aircraft, or ships. However, the Navy has not outlined steps in the framework to reevaluate program objectives and resources as the program progresses over the next several decades. Without building such reviews into key future decision points, the Navy is limiting its ability to ensure that capabilities in SIOP’s plans today continue to be aligned or adjusted to support future fleet warfighting needs. Further, while the Navy provides Congress with reports and briefings on various aspects of SIOP, the Navy does not provide Congress with consolidated, standardized information on full program costs and risks because there is no requirement to do so. In contrast, major defense acquisitions are required to provide annual program status reports with detailed metrics, including total costs to date, cost and schedule baselines, and risks, to track and monitor progress. Without a full picture of how much has been spent, what remains to be funded, and what risks may affect SIOP progress, Congress could make consequential decisions for SIOP based on incomplete information, thus risking billions in taxpayer dollars and a lack of program oversight… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107830 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107810 | Tax Fraud: The Federal Government Loses an Estimated $116 Billion to $304 Billion Annually | 2026-09-25 | GAO-26-107810 | What GAO Found GAO estimated that annual federal tax fraud loss is between $116 billion and $304 billion based on data and information from 2018 through 2024. GAO’s estimate is informed by data on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cases of fraud and potential fraud, potential fraud in the tax gap, and tax evasion from economic activities purposefully hidden from the government (i.e., shadow economy). The estimated range reflects approximately 2 percent to 6 percent of estimated tax owed to the federal government (tax liability) if applied to tax year 2022, the most recent year for which an estimate of the tax liability is available. GAO Estimated Range of Tax Fraud Loss as a Percentage of Estimated Total Tax Owed to the Federal Government, Tax Year 2022 The estimated range represents GAO’s best estimate of the extent of tax fraud based on the available evidence and analytical methods. The methodology accounts for the inherent uncertainties associated with fraud estimation and data limitations. The estimate could help Congress and agency officials understand the potential scale and scope of tax fraud loss and decide how to allocate resources for fraud risk management. For example, the estimate could inform decisions about the costs and benefits of implementing new controls to prevent, detect, and respond to tax fraud. While it is not possible to eliminate fraud completely, different divisions within IRS undertake a broad range of activities that help manage tax fraud risk and safeguard taxpayer dollars. Some of these activities are directly aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to tax fraud. Other activities are aimed at improving overall taxpayer compliance but nonetheless help the agency reduce tax fraud risk. For example, IRS’s Return Review Program screens certain individual tax returns for characteristics indicative of fraud. Through this program, according to IRS, it prevented $88 billion in invalid, and potentially fraudulent, tax refund payments from 2018 through 2024. Additionally, tax ret… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107810 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109152 | Compacts of Free Association: VA Is Pursuing Partial Implementation of Health Care Authorities in the Freely Associated States | 2026-09-25 | GAO-26-109152 | What GAO Found GAO found that veterans face multiple challenges in accessing health care in the Freely Associated States (FAS), according to VA assessments and interviews with VA and FAS officials. These challenges include limited availability of specialty services, such as mental health and cardiology, and the inability to utilize telehealth services with VA health providers. FAS veterans must travel to VA health facilities in U.S. states or territories to utilize their health benefits, but do not receive beneficiary travel reimbursement for travel to the U.S. Map of Health Care Facilities Providing Veteran Care in Pacific Region VA completed a variety of assessments from March 2024 to March 2025 on the implementation of veteran health benefits authorized under the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024. These assessments included an environmental scan of the health care landscape in the FAS, and an analysis of policy implications of changes to FAS veteran benefits. VA described potential costs and regulatory requirements for implementation options, ranging from maintaining the current status quo to full implementation of authorized health care for FAS veterans. For example, changes to reimbursement and beneficiary travel benefits would necessitate additional staffing to process claims. In an April 2025 memo provided to Congress, VA stated that it would not exercise its new authorities, asserting this decision was “to ensure equity with all U.S. veterans.” VA confirmed in June 2026 it had concluded its engagement with the FAS. However, in July 2026, VA officials told GAO that they intended to resume engagement with the FAS and, in August 2026, confirmed they were pursuing partial implementation of its authorities, including telehealth services, delivery of pharmaceutical products and medical surgical products, reimbursements for care in the FAS, and beneficiary travel benefits to service-connected veterans in the FAS. They did not provide a timeline for doing so. Why GAO Did This Study The U.… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109152 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108663 | Immigration Detention: Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-108663 | What GAO Found As of July 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has pursued an approach to expand detention capacity that has resulted in millions of dollars of waste. Since January 2025, ICE invested billions of dollars in six new initiatives without conducting necessary analysis and planning. For example, ICE purchased 11 warehouses to renovate for detention purposes at a reported cost of about $1.07 billion. In June 2026, ICE officials told GAO they were working to sell seven of the warehouses. ICE reported spending over $20 million on nonrecoverable costs, such as zoning assessments and security, on the warehouses it intends to sell. Waste, which occurs when agencies spend government resources carelessly or extravagantly, is also evident in other initiatives. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) New Detention Expansion Initiatives, January 2025–July 2026 ICE pursued these detention expansion initiatives without developing a comprehensive strategic plan to guide its efforts. For example, ICE has not developed consistent goals or objectives for the size and characteristics of its detention bed space. ICE also has not assessed the risks and benefits of using facilities with high operating costs compared to other less costly options in ICE's traditional detention portfolio. Developing a comprehensive strategic plan—which includes goals, activities, and resource needs—is a critical element of successful program management. Such a plan could help ICE better manage its multibillion-dollar detention expansion efforts and reduce waste associated with scaling back inefficient detention initiatives. These planning efforts would also better position ICE to select the approaches most likely to achieve its goals while making more efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars. Why GAO Did This Study A January 2025 Executive Order directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain individuals apprehended for violations of immigration law to the extent permitted by law and to all… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108663 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108603 | Federal Real Property: The Judiciary Should Measure the Utilization of Its Administrative Space | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-108603 | What GAO Found The federal judiciary’s administrative space, such as the district clerks’ and probation offices that support the judiciary’s mission, made up 40 percent of the judiciary’s total space in fiscal years 2021 through 2025. In fiscal year 2025, the judiciary’s administrative space totaled 12.2 million usable square feet across 716 of the 772 facilities the judiciary occupied nationwide, a decrease of 1 percent from fiscal year 2021. GAO found that administrative space was the sole type of space in over a third of judiciary occupied facilities in fiscal year 2025. Most of these facilities (234 of 272) were commercially owned. Ninety-six percent of the 234 commercially owned facilities were occupied by federal public defender organizations and probation offices. The proportion of the judiciary’s annual rent payments spent on administrative space, in both nominal and inflation adjusted dollars, remained steady—between 39 and 40 percent from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025. The Federal Judiciary’s Fiscal Year 2025 Administrative Space Distribution, in Usable Square Feet Note: The remaining court units include the courts of appeals clerks’ offices (including bankruptcy appellate panels); courts of appeals central legal staff; circuit executives’, bankruptcy administrators’, and pretrial services offices; and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. For more details, see fig. 2 in GAO-26-108603. While the judiciary has data on the amount of administrative space it occupies and the associated rent costs, it does not collect or review occupancy data. Without occupancy data, the judiciary is unable to measure the extent to which its administrative space is utilized, as utilization is the ratio of the average daily occupancy of a space compared to the usable square feet of the space. Judiciary policies and guidance identify the importance of maximizing the use of its space and taking a data-based approach when doing so. For example, part of the judiciary’s Asset Management Planning process i… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108603 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108231 | Military Installations: Remote and Isolated Locations Face Challenges Delivering Critical Support Services | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-108231 | What GAO Found Remote and isolated military installations are often away from population centers or located in austere environments, making the delivery of critical support services, such as health care or housing, challenging. GAO found that while remote and isolated installations consistently faced challenges in areas such as recruiting and retaining civilian personnel, the causes and severity of those challenges differed by location. For example, in Alaska, Eielson Air Force Base had the most vacant positions (428) while Fort Greely and Clear Space Force Station had no vacant critical support services positions. In 2024, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued guidance for designating installations as remote and isolated. As of May 2026, the Departments of the Army and Navy compiled lists of remote and isolated installations in accordance with this guidance. The Department of the Air Force has opted not to make a formal designation at this time. A DOD official stated that efforts to fully develop the risk assessment process outlined in the same guidance will begin once the initial designations of remote and isolated installations are complete. However, this guidance does not establish a clear definition for what a remote and isolated installation is. Moreover, other guidance varies in how these installations are defined. A consistent definition of remote and isolated installations would enhance DOD’s ability to produce an accurate picture of what is considered remote and isolated across the enterprise for purposes of identifying and assessing risks among these installations. Photos of Remote and Isolated Military Installations DOD implemented multiple efforts to reduce its civilian workforce since January 2025 that had significant impacts on the ability to staff or hire civilian positions in critical support services at remote and isolated installations. However, DOD has not assessed the effect of these reductions on remote and isolated locations where recruiting and retaining civilian personnel can be di… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108231 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108690 | Maternal Health: Information on and Federal Oversight of Mortality Review Committees | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-108690 | What GAO Found The U.S. faces a maternal mortality crisis, with mortality rates that exceed every other high-income country. More than 600 women die during pregnancy or from causes aggravated by pregnancy each year in the U.S.; over 80 percent of these deaths are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To help prevent these kinds of deaths, CDC provides funding for Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs). These committees, typically supported and maintained by state and local health agencies, identify factors contributing to pregnancy-related deaths and make recommendations to patients and their families, providers, hospitals, or state policymakers to help prevent similar deaths. They convene at the state or local level and comprise clinical and non-clinical representatives. GAO found all 10 selected MMRCs consider federal and state laws and policies as potential factors that affect maternal mortality. For example, representatives GAO interviewed from five MMRCs said their states changed state laws to extend Medicaid coverage for certain women to 12 months postpartum, due to MMRC recommendations. Such health care coverage could save lives by treating and reducing chronic disease, such as severe hypertension, that can underlie maternal mortality, according to these representatives. GAO found the 10 selected MMRCs commonly made recommendations in the areas of care coordination, mental health and substance use, health equity, reproductive health, and health care workers. For example: Mental health and substance use. Unintentional drug overdose and suicide were among the leading causes of death among pregnant and postpartum women, according to a recent study. Nine of the selected MMRCs made recommendations in this area, including for screening and referrals for treatment, and to increase funding for access to care. Health equity. There are persistent racial and ethnic disparities in deaths of pregnant women, with both Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women ex… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108690 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107774 | FEMA: Billions in Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Subgrants Remain Unawarded | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-107774 | What GAO Found As of March 2025, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded 1,245 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) subgrants to communities over its first four grant cycles in fiscal years 2020 through 2023. These subgrants were for mitigation activities to address hazards, such as floods. FEMA allocated about $2.5 billion for these subgrants, half the $4.8 billion available. FEMA reimbursed $62 million, and 37 subgrants had completed work and initiated the closeout process. From April 2025 to March 2026, FEMA did not award subgrants nor obligate funds. GAO found the median time for FEMA to finalize its review of subapplications and award BRIC subgrants was 7 to 9 months. As of March 2025, FEMA had not made award decisions for 700 subapplications because it had not completed the second of its two review stages. These subapplications were associated with about $2.2 billion of the $4.8 billion. Communities said these review timeframes could extend project timelines and increase costs. Identifying efficiencies to shorten FEMA’s review may enable communities to begin hazard mitigation activities sooner and minimize additional costs. Number of BRIC Subapplications Pending FEMA’s Award Decision and BRIC Funds Associated with These Subapplications, Across Four Grant Cycles and as of March 2025 FEMA announced it was ending BRIC in April 2025, but it did not communicate key information internally and externally until March 2026 when it announced it was restarting BRIC. For example, FEMA did not clarify which subgrants would be terminated. Officials and stakeholders said the lack of actionable information from FEMA headquarters created challenges and delayed mitigation efforts. State officials told GAO that some subrecipients stopped work due to funding uncertainty, which may increase project costs. Moving forward, identifying and applying lessons learned from this period will help ensure FEMA communicates relevant, timely program information… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107774 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109087 | Funding Status: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs and Inflation Reduction Acts at the Departments of Agriculture and Energy | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-109087 | What GAO Found The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided federal funding to agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Energy (DOE), for a wide range of efforts. These efforts included projects to reduce wildfire risk, improve rural power production, and develop clean energy technologies. Of the $37 billion provided to USDA that was not later rescinded by Public Law 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, USDA obligated $32.2 billion for fiscal years 2022 through 2025. Of the $78 billion provided to DOE that was not later rescinded, DOE obligated $51 billion for fiscal years 2022 through 2025. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Funding for USDA and DOE as of September 30, 2025 Note: This figure does not include budget authority for which the entire period of availability occurs after September 30, 2025, or obligations, disbursements, or rescissions of that budget authority. USDA. In response to the President’s directive in 2025 to review IIJA and IRA funding for alignment with executive orders, USDA reported that it reviewed awards for the use of racial, ethnic, and gender preferences and for promoting climate change or environmental justice initiatives. Senior leadership ultimately made final decisions on whether to approve to continue, modify, or cancel awards, according to USDA officials and documentation. According to agency officials, USDA completed its review of IIJA- and IRA-funded awards by June 30, 2025. The agency terminated 34 contracts, totaling $67 million, according to its data. However, GAO concluded that USDA data were not sufficiently reliable to determine the status of all awards reviewed. Specifically, USDA officials could not specify which awards the agency approved to continue or modified as a result of its review or if the agency canceled additional awards. DOE. In May 2025, DOE created the advisory portfolio review process (PRP) committee t… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109087 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108446 | Private Health Insurance: Federal and State Oversight of Contraceptive Coverage Requirements | 2026-09-24 | GAO-26-108446 | What GAO Found In 2024, about 82 percent of women of reproductive age reported using some form of contraception in the past 12 months, according to research from KFF. Most private health plans are generally required to cover the full range of contraceptives for women. The Department of Labor (DOL), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services—and states each have responsibilities for overseeing private health plans, including plans' coverage of contraception. See table for descriptions of their general oversight responsibilities and activities. DOL, CMS, and States’ General Responsibilities for Overseeing Private Health Plans Oversight authority Oversight activities DOL Private employer-sponsored group health plans Responding to enrollee complaints Conducting investigations in response to systemic concerns identified from various sources, such as complaints CMS Non-federal governmental plans Qualified health plans offered through the federally-facilitated exchanges Group and individual plans in certain states that do not have authority to enforce federal requirements or are not otherwise enforcing requirements Conducting annual plan reviews and certification Conducting individual complaint investigations Conducting market conduct examinations of potential systemic compliance issues States Individual health plans and some group health plans sold in their state Conducting premarket health plan reviews Collecting individual complaints Carrying out market conduct examinations Source: GAO review of information from CMS, DOL, selected state officials and prior GAO work. | GAO-26-108446 Note: The Department of Treasury oversees certain aspects of PPACA compliance for church plans, which were outside the scope of our report. Of the plans for which they… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108446 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107741 | Disability Employment: Providers Cited Challenges with State Coordination of Federal Funds | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-107741 | What GAO Found The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs are the primary sources of federal funds supporting employment services for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD), according to officials. The VR and I/DD agencies that administer these programs within three selected states—Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Washington—generally compensated employment service providers based on either units of services rendered, such as billed time, or when supported individuals achieved milestones, such as job placement. These compensation models can present different drawbacks. For example, according to one employment service provider, compensation based on units of services rendered does not incentivize providers to reduce the services they provide as an individual develops job skills. In contrast, milestone-based compensation may not cover a provider’s actual costs, which can vary in unforeseen ways, according to employment service providers that GAO interviewed. The VR and I/DD agencies within the selected states established procedures for funding employment services and collaborating with service providers to jointly support individuals with I/DD. In these states, VR and I/DD agencies generally funded employment services sequentially with the VR agency funding them before the I/DD agency followed through Medicaid HCBS. According to state VR and I/DD officials, such sequencing of services was more common than braiding, which uses multiple funding streams separately and simultaneously to provide services to an individual. Strategies for Using Different Funds to Increase Employment for Individuals with Disabilities Employment service providers that GAO interviewed in these states identified challenges in using funds from the VR and Medicaid HCBS programs in combination to support individuals. They described the administrative burden of navigating two state agencies as a challenge that contributed to service gaps. For instance, according t… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107741 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108623 | Drug Scheduling: While DEA Decisions Have Aligned with Recent HHS Recommendations, Both Need Comprehensive Policies | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-108623 | What GAO Found Under the Controlled Substances Act, substances that pose a risk of abuse and dependence are placed in categories—referred to as schedules. To carry out certain scheduling actions, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is required to obtain a scheduling recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) based on a scientific and medical evaluation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Evaluations and recommendations from HHS or DEA are not required for substances scheduled through legislation. Of the 208 substances for which DEA took scheduling actions from 2020 through 2025, DEA considered HHS evaluations and recommendations for all 95 substances for which they were required. Of those 95 substances, DEA’s final scheduling decision aligned with HHS’s recommendation for all 84 substances for which DEA had published a final rule as of December 31, 2025. The remaining 11 substances were still under extended temporary scheduling orders. We selected this timeframe to assess DEA scheduling actions during the most recent 6 calendar years. DEA and FDA have policies that address aspects of the scheduling process, including a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for sharing information; however, these policies have gaps. For example, DEA does not have policies that identify roles, responsibilities, and procedures related to scheduling. FDA does not have policies or procedures specifying how its staff are to conduct evaluations or develop recommendations. Developing such policies and procedures could help ensure operational consistency, especially if key personnel with longstanding subject matter expertise depart. The below figure shows DEA and FDA methods for coordinating regarding evaluations and recommendations for substances. Figure: DEA and FDA Methods for Coordinating Regarding Evaluations and Recommendations for Substances FDA has another MOU with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that describes procedures for FDA to cons… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108623 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108409 | National Nuclear Security Administration: Use of Line Items in Management and Operating Contracts Could Be Improved | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-108409 | What GAO Found The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has traditionally used a single, all-encompassing management and operating (M&O) contract at each of its sites to acquire work performed, including to subcontract for construction services. Beginning in 2014, NNSA introduced individual contract line item numbers (line items) to some contracts to increase the visibility of specific efforts. Line items capture information about separately identifiable goods and services that the government seeks to acquire within the scope of the overall contract. Since introducing individual contract line items in 2014, NNSA has minimally used line items to separate contract deliverables, especially for construction projects. Specifically, five of NNSA’s 21 capital asset projects that had approved performance baselines as of June 2026 are covered by separate line items in the M&O contracts (see table). One smaller project and two projects under a former contract were completed as separate contract line items. NNSA officials told GAO they are considering adding at least two other construction projects at one site as separate line items. Ongoing Construction Projects with Separate Contract Line Items in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Management and Operating Contracts Line item Contract Uranium Processing Facility (2 projects) Y-12 National Security Complex Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (2 projects) Savannah River Site Power Sources Capability Sandia National Laboratories Source: GAO analysis of National Nuclear Security Administration data. | GAO-26-108409 According to NNSA officials and M&O contractor representatives GAO interviewed, contract line items can enhance transparency of procurement data and allow NNSA to develop separate contractor fee plans and performance evaluations for high-risk, high-value projects. However, officials said these separa… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108409 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107939 | West Bank and Gaza: State Should Incorporate Leading Practices and Lessons Learned into Anti-Terrorism Oversight | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-107939 | What GAO Found The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated $624 million in Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance for the West Bank and Gaza for fiscal years (FY) 2022-2024. This assistance funded 37 prime awards for sectors including water infrastructure and education, as well as debt relief payments to a Palestinian Authority creditor. With a few exceptions, USAID complied with its anti-terrorism policies and procedures. State took over administration of this ESF funding from USAID in July 2025. All 37 awards have ended except for support to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. U.S.-Funded Neonatal Intensive Care Training for East Jerusalem Hospital Network State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) is managing the remaining USAID activities in the West Bank and Gaza. Congress appropriated ESF funding in FY 2025 and National Security Investment Programs (NSIP) funding in FY 2026 that State can use for the West Bank and Gaza if oversight requirements are met. Officials told GAO that State’s planning had identified potential early recovery and economic development programming for West Bank and Gaza, but State has not yet determined responsibility for managing such programs. According to State officials, ongoing regional conflict has delayed NEA’s initial efforts to replace USAID’s anti-terrorism policies and procedures for West Bank and Gaza. Once developed, these policies and procedures would not necessarily apply to State components other than NEA, such as the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, if they become responsible for future programming. State guidance says that risks should be identified, evaluated, and mitigated. Determining and documenting how relevant components will mitigate terrorism risk could help State ensure that such assistance is not diverted to terrorist ends. As State determines its risk mitigation measures, it could incorporate leading practices and lessons learned. GAO has identified mandatory provisions in award agreements as a leading oversight practice. This practi… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107939 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108467 | Veterans Health Care: Information on Eligibility for and Use of Dental Benefits | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-108467 | What GAO Found More than 9 million enrolled veterans are eligible to receive health care services through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) each year. Veterans who meet certain requirements (such as having a 100 percent service-connected disability or being former prisoners of war) are also eligible to receive VA dental benefits. According to VA, about 26 percent of VHA-enrolled veterans were eligible to receive dental benefits as of February 2026. According to VHA data, the number of veterans eligible for VA dental benefits increased from fiscal years 2020 through 2025, resulting in an overall increase of approximately 70 percent from fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2025. Number of VHA-Enrolled Veterans Eligible for VA Dental Benefits, Fiscal Years 2020–2025 The increase in the number of veterans eligible for dental benefits was largely driven by increases in veterans eligible because of a 100 percent service-connected disability rating or a 100 percent service-connection compensation rate due to the inability to work, according to VHA data. GAO’s review of VHA data regarding demographic characteristics of veterans eligible for VA dental benefits (age, sex, race and ethnicity, and rurality of residence) from 2020 through 2025 found that the largest increase in veterans eligible for VA dental benefits occurred among younger veterans (under age 50). Specifically, younger veterans composed 21 percent of eligible veterans in 2020 compared to 36 percent in 2025. Other demographic characteristics of veterans remained relatively constant. Using VHA data for 2025, GAO estimated that if all veterans with heart disease were eligible for dental benefits, the number of veterans eligible for VA dental benefits could increase by 25 percent from about 2.45 million to about 3.07 million. VHA officials and dental providers from selected facilities reported that if such an expansion were to occur, VA may need to consider hiring additional dental providers and increasing den… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108467 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107920 | K-12 Education: Actions to Improve Oversight of Key Federal Programs and Address High Chronic Absenteeism | 2026-09-23 | GAO-26-107920 | What GAO Found All states that receive funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) are required to develop statewide accountability systems. Thirty-six states have chosen to include indicators related to chronic absenteeism in their statewide accountability systems. ESEA also has certain chronic absenteeism reporting requirements for all states, regardless of whether a state includes chronic absenteeism in its accountability system. In 2026, the Department of Education discontinued its most comprehensive monitoring of ESEA’s programmatic and fiscal requirements. The ESEA provision intended to improve oversight of funds does not explicitly direct Education to monitor grantees, nor does it include specific requirements regarding the method or frequency of monitoring and oversight activities. Suspending its most comprehensive monitoring has broad oversight implications that extend beyond chronic absenteeism. Given that Education is not currently assessing ESEA compliance with Title I fiscal requirements, there is higher risk that these federal funds—comprising about two-thirds of the nearly $27 billion in ESEA funding in 2025—could be subject to undetected fraud, waste, or abuse. While Education requires states to report data on chronically absent students using a standard method, the way Education uses those data to calculate chronic absenteeism rates can be unreliable. For example, Education directs states to report the number of chronically absent students over a school year, but to report total enrollment based on a single date. Calculating rates using mismatched timeframes has resulted in unreliable and implausible chronic absenteeism rates (e.g., rates over 100 percent), according to GAO’s analysis. GAO calculated rates at the school level and found this was especially true in low-performing schools where enrollment fluctuates more often, and shared-time schools which students attend for partial days, such as those housing career and technical education pro… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107920 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108575 | Federal Real Property: GSA Should Publicize Accessibility Complaint Process for Its Office Buildings | 2026-09-22 | GAO-26-108575 | What GAO Found The General Services Administration (GSA) owns and leases thousands of office buildings, which are used by federal employees and the public. The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA) requires that certain GSA office buildings be accessible to individuals with physical disabilities. According to GSA officials and documentation, GSA reviews alteration, leasing, and construction projects throughout the design process for compliance with its ABA Accessibility Standard. The U.S. Access Board (Board), an independent federal agency, enforces the ABA by addressing complaints of potential violations of applicable ABA standards. The Board generally relies on complaints rather than inspections due to resource constraints, according to Board officials. Anyone may file complaints with the Board alleging ABA noncompliance of GSA buildings. From October 2022 to June 2026, the Board received 41 ABA complaints about GSA’s office buildings and closed 25; 16 are still in process. Some stakeholders who were aware of the process said it was effective in addressing ABA complaints. However, the public is generally unaware that it can file complaints on accessibility barriers in GSA office buildings, according to almost all the industry stakeholders, federal employee unions, and disability advocates GAO interviewed. Moreover, GSA has not publicized the ABA complaint process. The Board relies on complaints it receives through its complaint process to learn about potential ABA violations and enforce the ABA. Without public information from GSA on this process, such as in its buildings, people with disabilities may be unaware that they are able to file ABA complaints and barriers to the accessibility of GSA office buildings may go unremedied. Accessible Parking Spaces at the Eaglecrest Building in Memphis, TN, Leased by the General Services Administration Why GAO Did This Study Tens of millions of Americans live with disabilities. Those individuals may need to access federal office buildings to work or to obtain g… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108575 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107178 | Tribal Water Infrastructure: Opportunities Exist to Improve Federal Assistance | 2026-09-22 | GAO-26-107178 | What GAO Found As part of the federal government’s efforts to support Tribes and tribal members’ health and to help prevent disease, an Indian Health Service (IHS) program provides Tribes with technical and financial assistance to build drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in tribal communities. Through this program, IHS staff work closely with Tribes to identify their needs and design and build water projects. Several U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs also provide assistance for tribal water projects, and the three agencies often work together and with Tribes. Selected Agencies’ Funding for Tribal Water Projects, Fiscal Year 2025 IHS has determined that only certain homes are eligible for funding as part of a community tribal water project based on its interpretation of its statutory authority to build water infrastructure for “Indian homes, communities, and lands.” This excludes various homes that tribal members live in, such as those owned by a spouse or grandparent who is not a tribal member—something tribal officials said is common in tribal communities. It also excludes homes owned by Tribes or tribal members that are rented to other tribal members with fewer than 5 years on the lease or to community service providers (e.g., teachers or law enforcement) who are not tribal members. Examples of Water Infrastructure in Underserved Tribal Communities When an IHS-funded project includes ineligible properties, such as nontribal homes or community buildings, Tribes and the IHS staff helping them must provide or obtain other funding for these properties’ costs. This can lead to high administrative costs, such as to help Tribes navigate other federal agencies’ differing application processes. This can be expensive and inefficient for IHS when such activities cost as much or more than the project costs of these properties. For example, IHS officials reported spending over 80 hours helping one Tribe obtain a $8,000 grant, plus more hours help… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107178 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108630 | Telecommunications: Better Information Sharing Needed to Ensure Compliance with Foreign-Sourced Equipment Prohibitions | 2026-09-22 | GAO-26-108630 | What GAO Found Section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 prohibits federal agencies from procuring covered telecommunications and surveillance equipment and services from five specific Chinese companies (and their affiliates or subsidiaries) or awarding contracts to companies that use such equipment and services. Following implementation in fiscal year 2019, agencies reduced spending with the five companies through fiscal year 2025 with no spending in three of those fiscal years. As of March 2026, GAO found that nearly 90 percent of companies with active government contracts in fiscal year 2025 represented publicly that they do not use equipment from these companies. Federal Obligations to Five Identified Companies in Section 889 Prohibitions, Fiscal Years 2016-2025 Note: Agencies could have used a waiver to make awards after 2019, which the statute permitted for a certain time. The General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Defense (DOD) have processes to help ensure they do not buy the prohibited equipment and services or contract with vendors that use such equipment and services. For example, GSA has automated processes to remove prohibited equipment and services on its Multiple Award Schedule contracts used by other agencies. DOD and GSA have search tools that contracting officers and purchase cardholders can use to determine how contractors represent their compliance with the prohibitions in the System for Award Management. However, GSA and DOD do not broadly share their insights from implementing Section 889 prohibitions with other government agencies. This would include information about the five companies’ subsidiaries and affiliates and methods the two agencies have used to enhance insight into the supply chain. For example, based on its experience with Section 889 prohibitions, GSA has plans to expand its use of customs data to identify the origin of goods, which GAO previously reported is difficult to do. By sharing inform… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108630 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108499 | Medical Devices: FDA Should Strengthen Policies Guiding Audits of Third Party Review Organizations | 2026-09-21 | GAO-26-108499 | What GAO Found The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) administers the Third Party Review Program, a voluntary alternative review process for selected low-to-moderate risk medical devices, such as diagnostic ultrasound systems and surgical lasers. Under this program, which is intended to facilitate faster reviews, device sponsors can contract with FDA-accredited entities. These entities, known as Third Party Review Organizations (third parties), conduct the initial review of certain premarket applications, known as 510(k) submissions. These third party reviews occur prior to agency officials making the final decision about whether the device can be marketed. According to FDA officials, the agency received approximately $8 million for Third Party Review Program operations in fiscal years 2023 through 2027. FDA’s administration of the program includes overseeing third parties’ accreditation and reaccreditation applications to ensure participation standards are met, and reviewing third parties’ recommendations on 510(k) submissions and making final decisions. From fiscal years 2018 through 2025, third parties provided FDA with 617 510(k) submission reviews and recommendations, which accounted for about 2 percent of CDRH’s 510(k) submission reviews annually. Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) and Third Party 510(k) Medical Device Submission Reviews, Fiscal Years 2018–2025, as of November 2025 Fiscal Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Number of 510(k) submissions reviewed by CDRH only 3,276 3,464 3,504 3,731 3,554 3,684 3,461 3,476 Number of 510(k) submissions reviewed by Third Party Review Organizations and CDRH 75 78 85 90 77 … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108499 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108732 | Global Aging: Key Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy and Federal Agencies | 2026-09-21 | GAO-26-108732 | What GAO Found Many countries, including the U.S., are experiencing an increase in both the number and the proportion of older adults in their populations. According to the World Health Organization, the share of the global population aged 60 and over is expected to more than double from one billion in 2020 to 2.1 billion by 2050. As countries experiencing population aging take steps to address the domestic effects, experts told GAO that global population aging may also affect the U.S. GAO identified three broad U.S. foreign policy interests that may be affected by aging abroad: national security, economic competitiveness, and global health and humanitarian assistance (see figure). Effects of Global Aging on U.S. Foreign Policy Interests GAO identified several key implications of global aging populations for the U.S. by interviewing experts and conducting a literature review. For example, U.S. national security interests may be affected as allies spend more on healthcare for their aging populations, likely resulting in fewer available resources for defense spending. U.S. economic interests may also be affected by shrinking labor pools abroad, which could affect labor force competition and worldwide migration patterns. Lastly, global health interests may be influenced by the prevalence of chronic disease in aging populations. As a result, U.S. global health priorities may have to be adapted to the health-related risks and vulnerabilities faced by aging populations. The Departments of Defense (DOD), Health and Human Services (HHS), and State have some efforts that indirectly address the implications of global aging. These agencies produce research and data, engage with partner nations, and provide health and humanitarian assistance. State’s regional bureaus train younger populations in other countries to replace skills lost when older individuals leave the workforce. Additionally, HHS researches the effects of aging and age-related conditions on populations both domestically and abroad. However, U.S. agencie… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108732 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108439 | Aviation Cybersecurity: Enhanced Air Safety Requires FAA to Better Mitigate Threats to Aircraft Communications | 2026-09-21 | GAO-26-108439 | What GAO Found The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has identified electromagnetic spectrum-related threats, including spoofing and jamming, to the National Airspace System (NAS) and international flight routes. However, FAA has not completed risk and mitigation assessments, and updated security documentation needed to address these threats. Additionally, FAA did not have a defined, real-time monitoring and detection capability for all spectrum-related threats. Without comprehensive risk and mitigation assessments, complete security documentation, and real-time monitoring capabilities, FAA may not have sufficient information to identify, prioritize, and respond to evolving spectrum-related threats. As a result, spoofing, jamming, and other attacks could disrupt aviation communications, degrade situational awareness, and increase the risk of operational disruptions. Potential Cyberattacks Impacting Aircraft Communications FAA participates in multiple collaborative efforts with other federal agencies as well as non-federal aviation industry stakeholders regarding cybersecurity. FAA's collaborative efforts fully addressed two of the eight leading practices and partially addressed six. While FAA has defined roles and responsibilities within interagency groups, it has not established policies or procedures for information sharing, reporting, and coordination with non-federal partners outside those groups. Fully implementing leading collaboration practices could strengthen FAA's ability to effectively coordinate with key partners to mitigate cybersecurity threats affecting the aviation sector and thereby avoid fragmented and inefficient responses to incidents. The communication applications that FAA, pilots, and aviation stakeholders use to exchange text-based information are vulnerable to cyber threats, including interception and spoofing, due to limitations related to authentication, encryption, and protocol design. For example, a malicious actor could transmit fraudulent clearance cancellations, possibly … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108439 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108451 | Federal Real Property: Funding and Other Challenges Have Hindered Progress Under a Temporary Disposal Process | 2026-09-21 | GAO-26-108451 | What GAO Found The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (FASTA) established a temporary process to reduce the inventory of federal civilian real property and the time it takes to dispose of such property. FASTA created the Public Buildings Reform Board (Board) to recommend properties for disposal for approval in each of several rounds. Once approved, the General Services Administration (GSA) takes a primary role in implementation. FASTA also established a fund to help with disposal costs. The last year of FASTA implementation is underway, with two approved rounds—2019 and 2025—and a final round expected to be released before the Board ceases operations in December 2026. As of August 2026, 14 properties (of 23 recommended and approved) have been disposed of for a total of about $576 million in sales proceeds. Most of these disposals were from the 2019 round. Timeframes for completing disposal on many 2025 round properties are not clear due to shifting cost and schedule estimates. Stakeholders said that FASTA’s main benefit is the potential for funding to offset disposal costs, but the uncertainty of accessing this funding has been a significant challenge. Proceeds from initial FASTA disposals are deposited into a fund—the Asset Proceeds and Space Management Fund—that can be accessed to cover the costs of future disposals, subject to congressional appropriation. While Congress appropriated $90 million from 2016 to 2022 for the fund, it did not provide additional FASTA appropriations from 2023 to 2025. Without this appropriation, GSA could not access the full amount of sales proceeds. Timeline of Cumulative Amounts Deposited into and Appropriated from the Asset Proceeds and Space Management Fund In 2026, Congress appropriated an additional about $143 million in FASTA proceeds. However, other longstanding disposal challenges remain. For example, stakeholders said relocating tenants is a challenge, particularly for the 2025 round, as most of these properties remain occupied by federal tenants. GSA and t… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108451 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109300 | Coast Guard: Opportunities Remain to Improve Access to Housing | 2026-09-18 | GAO-26-109300 | Coast Guard personnel who work near vacation destinations or in remote areas experience challenges accessing private sector housing. Implementing our prior recommendations can better position the military services to manage military housing and support service members and their families. The Big Picture Due to rising costs, Coast Guard service members, 40 percent of whom rotate to new duty stations annually, and their families find it increasingly difficult to access adequate housing. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Coast Guard (within the Department of Homeland Security) rely on the private sector to house the majority of service members; other service members may reside in government-owned housing. The basic allowance for housing (housing allowance) is often one of the largest components of cash compensation for military personnel. Around 41 percent of Coast Guard units are in remote or high vacation rental areas, where there is limited housing supply and high cost-of-living relative to the housing allowance. Coast Guard service members and spouses in these areas report challenges with affordability and availability of private-sector housing, which 76 percent of Coast Guard service members rely upon. However, while the Coast Guard and DOD seek to ensure that all members and their families have access to adequate housing, they are not fully aware of the challenges experienced by some service members. As a result, it may be difficult for these service members and their families to find adequate housing, which can affect morale and retention. What GAO’s Work Shows Our prior work highlighted key challenges that the Coast Guard has faced in managing its housing program and DOD actions that affect the Coast Guard. These include Coast Guard and DOD data collection and monitoring processes that inform housing guidance, such as collecting service member feedback, calculating housing allowance rates, and assessing priority housing types and locations. As of July 2026, there were nine open GAO recommendations… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109300 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109302 | Coast Guard: Actions to Address Sexual Misconduct Underway but Incomplete | 2026-09-18 | GAO-26-109302 | Sexual misconduct in the U.S. Coast Guard is a longstanding problem. Implementing our recommendations can help the Coast Guard instill a culture intolerant of sexual misconduct and communicate progress to Congress and the public. The Big Picture Sexual misconduct has been a challenge within the U.S. Coast Guard for decades. For example, in a 2020 internal investigation called “Operation Fouled Anchor,” the Coast Guard examined more than 100 allegations of sexual assault from 1990 to 2006 at the Coast Guard Academy. The investigation concluded that the academy often mishandled these cases and failed to take sufficient action to ensure a safe environment for cadets. Sexual misconduct negatively affects victims and cadet retention, and it disrupts mission readiness. Cadets at Coast Guard Academy Practicing Drills In June 2023, after media reporting on the mishandling of sexual assault cases, the Coast Guard committed to reforming its culture, including addressing sexual misconduct. It also committed to better communicate its progress on these efforts to Congress and the public. A November 2023 Coast Guard report developed in response to Operation Fouled Anchor concluded that drastic improvement was needed to address harmful behaviors, including sexual misconduct. The report highlighted that about 18 percent of current Coast Guard women and 4 percent of men who responded to the Coast Guard’s 2022 Workforce and Gender Relations survey reported having experienced sexual harassment. What GAO’s Work Shows The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 includes a provision for GAO to report on Coast Guard efforts to mitigate sexual misconduct in the service. Pub. L. No. 119-60, div. G, tit. LXXV, subtit. A, § 7501, 139 Stat. 718, 1788-89 (2025). Our prior work has highlighted challenges that the Coast Guard has faced in addressing and reporting sexual misconduct. The Coast Guard has begun to implement our recommendations to address these concerns, but as of August 2026, its actions were incomplete. Im… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109302 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108527 | U.S. Postal Service: Cost-Cutting Initiatives and Other Factors Have Contributed to Declining Service Performance | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-108527 | What GAO Found In 2021, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) published a 10-year strategic plan, which it has periodically updated, that aims to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence. Since that time, USPS has lengthened the expected delivery times of some First-Class Mail to align with strategic plan initiatives intended to cut costs. Effective October 2021, USPS added 1 to 2 days to its expected delivery times for certain products to accommodate its transportation change from air to ground. In April 2025, USPS further changed expected delivery times by eliminating end-of-day or afternoon collection at the over 24,000 post offices that are more than 50 miles from a Regional Processing and Delivery Center. Additionally, USPS lowered its service performance targets—the percentage of mail it expects to meet service standards—in fiscal year 2021 and has not met most targets since then. While intended to achieve cost savings, USPS’s strategic plan initiatives have slowed service for some mail and had a disproportionate impact on rural customers, according to oversight entities and industry stakeholders. U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Service Performance for Selected First-Class Mail Products, Fiscal Years 2021–2025 USPS has tried to address service performance in several ways, including using diagnostic tools and regular operational meetings. However, ongoing service performance issues indicate that USPS’s actions have not been sufficient. Moreover, broader challenges—such as USPS’s poor financial condition—may contribute to the difficulty in doing so. Given persistent concerns about service performance, it is important that USPS clearly communicate about its ongoing and planned actions to address this issue, even as it seeks to cut costs, as well as about the challenges it faces. The upcoming update to USPS’s strategic plan, which is planned for 2027, presents an opportunity for USPS to communicate this information to Congress, the public, and relevant stakeholders. Why GAO Did This Study USPS… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108527 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108017 | Medicaid: Improved Oversight Needed of State Eligibility Error Corrective Action Plans | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-108017 | What GAO Found The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) oversees the accuracy of Medicaid eligibility determinations through the Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) and the Medicaid Eligibility Quality Control (MEQC) programs. CMS estimates improper payments due to eligibility errors through its PERM program, and both the PERM and MEQC programs identify the root and specific causes of Medicaid eligibility errors and require states to develop corrective action plans (CAP) to address them. Root causes describe the source of the error and specific causes describe the exact action taken or not taken that led to the error. Caseworkers (staff who process Medicaid applications) were generally identified as the most prevalent root cause of errors in the PERM and MEQC reports GAO reviewed. The specific causes of errors generally fell into four categories. Causes of Medicaid Eligibility Errors Identified in Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) Reports from Reporting Years 2019–2025 Note: Error totals may not match as some causes are not listed. See report for more information. The selected states GAO reviewed took a variety of corrective actions—such as providing caseworkers with training, guidance, and making updates to eligibility systems—to reduce eligibility errors identified in the PERM and MEQC. Although CMS provides feedback on states’ CAPs, the agency’s inconsistent enforcement of required evaluations and limited analysis of state CAPs impair its oversight: Incomplete CAPs. CMS accepted PERM CAPs that were missing elements required by federal regulations. For example, states are required to evaluate the effectiveness of their prior corrective actions across five elements, but many CAPs GAO reviewed were missing required elements. Limited analyses of CAPs. CMS does not systematically analyze eligibility errors and CAPs across states and years to determine the effectiveness of corrective actions and whether they could be effective in multiple states. Collecting required elements and con… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108017 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108106 | Whistleblower Protection: DHS Should Ensure Timely Resolution of Retaliation Complaints | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-108106 | What GAO Found The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has not ensured timely investigations of whistleblower retaliation complaints. OIG took over 3 years to investigate the majority (39 of 73) of the cases it opened and closed in fiscal years 2018 through 2025. OIG officials told GAO that case complexity and limited staff affected some case time frames, and that they have focused more on investigation quality and thoroughness than timeliness. While OIG policy requires timely review of whistleblower retaliation complaints, OIG has not defined this objective in specific, measurable terms; evaluated timeliness; or implemented other mechanisms to help enhance accountability and ensure more timely investigations. Improving timeliness could lessen the personal, financial, and professional hardships on complainants and help convey that protecting whistleblowers is a priority. DHS OIG Time Frames for Closing Whistleblower Retaliation Investigations, Cases Opened and Closed, Fiscal Years 2018–2025 From fiscal years 2018 through 2025, OIG substantiated 11 of the 73 whistleblower retaliation cases noted above. The Secretary of Homeland Security did not decide whether to take corrective action for any of these cases within 30 days of receiving OIG’s report, as required by law. As of May 2026, the Secretary decided to take corrective action for five cases and had not decided whether to take corrective action for the remaining six. These 11 cases had awaited the Secretary’s decision for 4 months to over 2 years. DHS officials told GAO there is no process or designated official responsible for ensuring cases are reviewed in a timely manner. Until the Secretary decides on corrective action for the six pending cases and takes steps to ensure timely decisions on future substantiated cases, whistleblowers with substantiated cases will not receive timely restorative personnel actions. This could decrease confidence in DHS whistleblower protections and discourage other whistleblowers from co… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108106 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107871 | Unpaid Household Work: Estimated Value and Time Spent on Domestic Tasks and Caregiving | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-107871 | What GAO Found Unpaid household work includes domestic tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, as well as caregiving. Studies show that supplementing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the value of unpaid household work can provide a better understanding of the U.S. economy than GDP alone. For example, the decline in economic output during the COVID-19 recession was smaller when this value was included. Unpaid household work is not included in GDP because it takes place outside of formal market transactions and requires additional resources to calculate. According to economists GAO interviewed, valuing unpaid work can help inform policies that affect caregivers, such as policies intended to improve caregivers’ financial security in retirement. In a typical day, most individuals (87.3 percent) spent at least some time on household work—an average of about 3.72 hours, according to GAO’s analysis of 2021–2024 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data. In addition, GAO estimated that the national market value of unpaid household work was at least $5.6 to 6.0 trillion in 2024 (which was equivalent to at least 19.2 to 20.2 percent of 2024 GDP). This estimated national market value includes the values of various types of unpaid household work, such as: Domestic tasks: $4.3 to $4.4 trillion (which was equivalent to 14.7 to 15.1 percent of 2024 GDP); and Caregiving (caring for adults or caring for children as a primary activity): $1.1 to $1.4 trillion (which was equivalent to 3.9 to 4.9 percent of 2024 GDP). These estimated values do not include secondary child care, which is keeping an eye on children while engaged in other activities. Including secondary child care increases the estimated values of caregiving and of all unpaid household work. GAO found certain groups were overrepresented among those engaged in unpaid household work from 2021-2024. For example, women made up about 53.9 percent of those engaged in this work, but 51.2 percent of the U.S. population. Also, women and married individuals spent more time on ch… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107871 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108836 | Cybersecurity: HHS Should Strengthen Oversight and Enhance Security Controls for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-108836 | What GAO Found The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline) is managed on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by a network administrator who oversees the day-to-day operations and ensures that the nearly 220 local crisis contact centers are compliant with the organization’s cybersecurity requirements. HHS partially implemented oversight activities related to cybersecurity for the 988 Lifeline. Specifically, HHS defined oversight roles and responsibilities to monitor cybersecurity control implementation. However, HHS did not include all key HHS-defined cybersecurity control areas in the 988 Lifeline cooperative agreement with its network administrator or for the network agreement between the administrator and crisis contact centers. In addition, HHS established processes to monitor security control implementation but did not always adhere to them. Inclusion of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)-defined Cybersecurity Control Areas in 988 Lifeline Agreements While the network administrator and crisis contact centers fully implemented selected continuous monitoring controls, they have not consistently implemented other selected cybersecurity controls identified in guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Specifically, the network administrator has not implemented identity and access controls related to updated password guidance and partially implemented controls related to contingency plans. In addition, the crisis contacts centers have partially implemented incident response and contingency planning controls. Without the full implementation of these controls, the 988 Lifeline faces increased risk of cybersecurity incidents, which could result in prolonged service disruptions and potentially prevent individuals in crisis access to timely mental health support. Why GAO Did This Study HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration launched the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in 2005 to serve individuals in suicidal crisis or… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108836 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109097 | DHS Grants: Approach to Terminations and Pauses Disrupted Some Program Activities | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-109097 | What GAO Found In February 2025, the President issued an executive order that called for agencies to consult with the U.S. DOGE Service (also known as the Department of Government Efficiency) to review and terminate grants within 30 days of the executive order to reduce spending. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told GAO that they followed directions from the Secretary of Homeland Security in 2025 to determine which grants to terminate. DHS took several actions during fiscal year 2025 to implement the Secretary’s grant review guidance. For example: DHS paused the disbursement of all obligated grant funding in February 2025. With approval from the Secretary, four DHS components terminated 362 grants and deobligated about $1 billion for those grants, as shown in the table below. Deobligations for Grants DHS Terminated January 20, 2025 – September 30, 2025 Agency and component Number of terminated grants Total deobligations after termination (thousands of $) Total for DHS 362 $1,001,777 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 1 $0 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 215 $999,433 Science and Technology Directorate 35 $2 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) 111 $2,342 Source: DHS.gov, USASpending.gov, and DHS officials. | GAO-26-109097 DHS’s approach led to it not achieving its fiscal year 2025 objectives and in some cases undermining statutory purposes for its grant programs. For instance, DHS did not fully achieve planned actions to reduce federal spending. In many cases, DHS or its components were forced to reverse their actions after delaying grants that would strengthen preparedness and resilience. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reallocated funds away from certain states under a grant program th… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109097 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107826 | Economic Development Administration: Additional Collaboration with Other Agencies Could Reduce Risks Associated with Overlap | 2026-09-17 | GAO-26-107826 | What GAO Found Federal support for economic development is fragmented. GAO identified 140 federal economic development programs administered by 13 agencies. GAO surveyed these programs, 131 of which reported total obligations of about $60 billion in fiscal year 2024. Further, these programs overlap. To assess overlap, GAO reviewed four selected Economic Development Administration (EDA) programs and 29 selected economic development programs administered by other federal agencies. All 29 programs overlapped with at least one of the EDA programs in at least one of three aspects—activities, beneficiaries, or purpose. Further, 20 programs overlapped with at least one of the EDA programs in all three aspects. Selected EDA and Other Federal Economic Development Programs with Overlap in Activities, Beneficiaries, and Purpose, as of May 2026 Note: Using survey responses from federal officials, GAO compared the four selected EDA programs with 29 selected federal economic development grant programs to determine whether they reported funding one or more of the same activities, serving similar beneficiaries, or having similar purposes. Overlap can create both benefits and challenges. For example, communities can use similar programs in different phases of projects but may find it difficult to navigate requirements across multiple agencies. Agencies can share expertise in overlapping programs but may find it challenging to avoid duplicative funding. EDA’s actions to manage the effects of overlap between programs have been limited. Of the 29 programs noted above, five reported collaborating with EDA in fiscal year 2024, the last full year at the time the survey was developed. In addition, EDA asks applicants to report funding from other federal agencies, but it does not verify the accuracy of this information prior to awarding funding. The Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended, requires EDA to coordinate with other federal agencies carrying out economic development activities. EDA officials said… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107826 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109173 | Native American Issues: Preliminary Observations on Housing and Homelessness | 2026-09-16 | GAO-26-109173 | What GAO Found GAO’s preliminary observations indicate that 30 federal programs can provide housing support targeted to Native American communities, including those that are American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiian. These include grant programs—of which the largest is the Indian Housing Block Grant program—and mortgage assistance programs. Tribes, tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations that GAO contacted indicated that they use federal programs primarily to maintain existing housing and, to a lesser extent, to construct new housing. They also identified limitations in the reach of these programs, including limited funding that had not kept pace with rising construction costs and certain program restrictions. While tribal communities experience both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, doubling up (or temporarily staying with others) is also widespread, according to GAO’s preliminary analysis of its interviews and prior HUD and GAO research. Tribes and tribal organizations that GAO contacted for its ongoing work on homelessness described a variety of strategies they use to address homelessness, including operating emergency shelters or transitional housing and providing supportive services. Tribal Emergency Shelter in Alaska and Transitional Housing Facilities in Minnesota GAO’s preliminary observations indicate that many of the Tribes and tribal organizations GAO contacted had used Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs to support their homelessness strategies. However, several challenges may limit broader use of these programs. For example, some Tribes and tribal organizations described using a portion of their Indian Housing Block Grant funding to address homelessness but noted that the need to fund operation and maintenance costs for existing housing left little funding for homelessness-related efforts, such as providing shelters or emergency housing assistance. They also described requirements of the Continuum of Care program—HUD’s largest hom… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109173 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109196 | Congressional Award Foundation: Review of the FY 2025 Financial Statement Audit | 2026-09-16 | GAO-26-109196 | What GAO Found Based on the limited procedures GAO performed to review the performance of the independent public accountant’s (IPA) audit of the Congressional Award Foundation’s financial statements for fiscal year 2025, GAO did not identify any significant issues it believes require attention. Had GAO performed additional procedures, other matters related to the performance of the audit might have come to its attention that it would have reported. The IPA provided an unmodified audit opinion on the Foundation’s financial statements for fiscal years 2025 and 2024. Specifically, the IPA found that the Foundation’s financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. For fiscal year 2025, the IPA did not identify any (1) deficiencies it considered to be material weaknesses in the Foundation’s internal control over financial reporting or (2) instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. The Foundation concurred with the IPA’s conclusions. GAO’s review of the Foundation’s fiscal year 2025 financial statement audit, as differentiated from an audit of the financial statements, was not intended to enable GAO to express—and it does not express—an opinion on the Foundation’s financial statements or a conclusion on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting. Furthermore, GAO does not express an opinion on the Foundation’s compliance with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements. The IPA is responsible for its reports on the Foundation and the conclusions expressed therein. GAO provided a draft of this report to the Foundation and the IPA for review and comment. The Foundation’s National Director and the Foundation’s Audit Committee Chair responded in an email that the Foundation continues to work on improving operations and internal controls over financial reporting on an ongoing basi… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109196 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108521 | Federal Personal Property: GSA Can Better Assess the Effectiveness of Its Disposal Efforts | 2026-09-16 | GAO-26-108521 | What GAO Found Federal agencies disposed of over $10 billion of unneeded personal property from July 2023 through fiscal year 2025. Generally, when a federal agency determines it no longer needs an item of personal property to fulfill its mission, the agency must report the item to the General Services Administration (GSA) to be disposed of through GSA’s online Personal Property Management System (PPMS). The unneeded property reported within this study’s time frame varied across a range of characteristics, from new bandages originally worth under $1, to airplanes in usable condition originally worth over $20 million. GAO found that about 9 percent of this property was reused, meaning it was transferred to another federal agency, donated for use by state or local governments, or was sold to the public. Certain factors may have affected whether this property was reused. For example, items with a higher original acquisition cost and those that were reported along with online photographs were more likely to be reused. Unneeded Federal Personal Property Items in GSA’s Northern Virginia Warehouse GSA has three core efforts to help agencies dispose of unneeded property but has not fully assessed their effectiveness consistent with key performance management practices. These efforts include (1) online platforms to help facilitate unneeded property disposal; (2) educational resources, such as guidance and on-demand training; and (3) direct assistance to agencies to help dispose of unneeded personal property. GSA has developed a scorecard to help measure performance, but the measures it includes are not aligned with GSA’s desired outcomes, such as timely disposals and providing a return on investment to taxpayers. The scorecard also excludes measures related to GSA’s core efforts of providing educational resources and direct assistance. Due to these gaps, GSA may not be collecting or using information that could help the agency fully assess those efforts’ effectiveness. As GSA aims to optimize the federal building po… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108521 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108530 | Export-Import Bank: Expanded Use of Delinquent Federal Debt Data Could Better Mitigate Credit Risk | 2026-09-16 | GAO-26-108530 | What GAO Found The Export-Import Bank of the United States’ (EXIM) loan guarantee transactions are approved by EXIM’s Board of Directors, staff with individual delegated authority, or delegated authority lenders. The underwriting process for loan guarantee transactions approved by EXIM includes several steps, such as screening applications for completeness, reviewing for minimal eligibility requirements, and performing due diligence to assess transactions’ risks. Selected Underwriting Processes EXIM Performs for Loan Guarantees EXIM followed its underwriting guidelines but has not fully leveraged available data to identify participants with delinquent federal nontax debt. By law, a person owing certain outstanding delinquent federal nontax debt is generally not eligible for loans or loan guarantees. EXIM has a policy to review participants for delinquent federal nontax debt using the System for Award Management’s Debt Subject to Offset data during the underwriting process prior to EXIM’s Board of Directors’ approval. However, its policy does not require a review for such debt in transactions approved by staff with individual delegated authority. EXIM has relied on a third-party vendor database since April 2023 to screen all loan guarantee participants for delinquent federal debt. While the database may identify participants that are delinquent on some federal tax debt, it does not identify those with delinquent federal nontax debt (e.g., delinquent student loans). The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 requires executive agencies to use the Do Not Pay system to ensure that they make awards and payments—including loan guarantees—only to eligible recipients. EXIM does not have policies and procedures to use Do Not Pay to review transaction participants for delinquent federal debt prior to approval. The System for Award Management and Do Not Pay are available at no cost and can provide more delinquent federal debt data than the third-party vendor; this could help EXIM make better-informed eligibility… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108530 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-900743 | Economy Act: An Overview | 2026-09-15 | GAO-26-900743 | This product is also designated as B-338717, Sept 15, 2026. The Economy Act provides authority for intra- and interagency transactions between agencies and major organizational units of agencies. The Act broadly applies to federal entities for the procurement of a wide variety of goods and services. However, the Economy Act does not authorize an agency to circumvent statutory limitations on its use of appropriated funds. An agency may only procure goods and services under the Economy Act that it is already authorized to procure, and Economy Act transactions must comply with the Act’s requirements, as well as general appropriations law principles, such as the purpose statute, the bona fide needs rule, the Antideficiency Act, and the rule against augmentation. GAO’s engagement work on agency financial operations has touched on Economy Act transactions in a variety of contexts and we have issued numerous legal decisions applying the Economy Act, many of which are cited in the testimony. For more information, contact Shirley A. Jones at jonessa@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-900743 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109028 | Mortgage Insurance: HUD’s Risk-Sharing Program and Its Role in Financing Affordable Rental Housing | 2026-09-15 | GAO-26-109028 | What GAO Found Each year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures billions of dollars in mortgages for multifamily properties through a variety of programs. HUD’s section 542(c) program provides FHA insurance for loans on affordable multifamily properties that are originated, underwritten, and serviced by housing finance agencies (HFA). The program is also known as the risk-sharing program because HUD and HFAs share the risk of loss on the loans. From fiscal years 2016 through 2025, HFAs underwrote over $12 billion (adjusted for inflation) in FHA-insured multifamily loans under the program. These loans helped finance 776 projects that are expected to produce or preserve about 93,670 rental units (see figure). Loan Amounts and Rental Units Under HUD’s Risk-Sharing Program, Fiscal Years 2016–2025 Three traditional HUD mortgage insurance programs GAO selected for comparison—in which HUD-approved lenders process applications—each financed more multifamily housing than the risk-sharing program. These three programs and the risk-sharing program collectively helped finance projects expected to produce or preserve nearly 1.3 million multifamily units from fiscal years 2016 through 2025. The risk-sharing program accounted for 7 percent of the total units. The traditional programs may be used for both affordable and market-rate projects, while the risk-sharing program may be used only for affordable projects. According to HUD officials, around half of the projects under the traditional programs are market rate. HUD’s traditional and risk-sharing programs are similar in some areas but differ in other areas, partly because their requirements differ. Under the traditional programs, HUD-approved lenders prepare and submit loan applications for FHA insurance in accordance with HUD’s uniform standards and procedures. Under the risk-sharing program, HFAs use their own standards and procedures. GAO found that the traditional and risk-sharing programs have some simi… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109028 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108477 | Federal Workforce: Deferred Resignation Program Largely Responsible for Sixfold Increase in Paid Administrative Leave Salary Costs | 2026-09-15 | GAO-26-108477 | What GAO Found GAO’s review of payroll data found that federal agencies’ use of paid administrative leave increased by 435 percent from 2023 to 2025. GAO estimates federal agencies in our review spent $9.5 billion in salary costs on paid administrative leave in 2025, a sixfold increase from 2023. In 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agencies to use paid administrative leave to support the deferred resignation program, which generally allowed federal employees to be placed on leave until they resigned or retired by September 30, 2025. Using program assumptions and internal time and attendance data provided by payroll service providers, GAO calculated about $6.7 billion of that amount was associated with deferred resignation program. GAO’s Estimate of Paid Administrative Leave Salary Costs, 2023–2025 GAO identified limitations with the paid administrative leave data reported by agencies, which could overstate the actual amount used. For example, GAO found that agencies reported 144 percent more paid administrative leave used in pay periods with a public holiday in 2023 through early 2025. Holidays should not be reported as paid administrative leave, and OPM has issued guidance to help address this data issue. OPM does not plan to retroactively fix such historical errors in data released to the public. Fully disclosing any data limitations that remain unaddressed could help users make informed decisions about how to use these data. OPM does not know the actual costs of the paid administrative leave used for workforce reduction efforts, including the deferred resignation program. One of the administration’s stated principles for current workforce reduction efforts is to trim the budget topline by reducing full-time equivalent positions. To support these efforts, federal agencies used millions of workdays of paid administrative leave. To calculate long-term savings, OPM needs to know short-term costs of paid administrative leave used for these efforts. However, OPM cannot easily and accurat… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108477 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109081 | U.S. Consolidated Financial Statements: Improvements Needed in Controls over Treasury Preparation Processes | 2026-09-15 | GAO-26-109081 | What GAO Found GAO’s audit of the fiscal year 2025 consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government (CFS) identified control deficiencies in the processes the Department of the Treasury used to prepare the CFS. These control deficiencies contributed to material weaknesses in internal control that involve the federal government’s inability to adequately account for intragovernmental activity and balances between federal entities; reasonably assure that the consolidated financial statements are (1) consistent with the underlying audited entities’ financial statements, (2) properly balanced, and (3) in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP); and reasonably assure that the information in the (1) Reconciliations of Net Operating Cost and Budget Deficit and (2) Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities is complete, properly supported, and consistent with the underlying information in the audited entities’ financial statements and other financial data. GAO identified three new control deficiencies in the processes Treasury used to prepare the fiscal year 2025 CFS. Treasury did not properly report legal contingencies in the draft CFS note disclosure. Treasury did not consistently prepare accurate and complete note disclosures in the draft CFS. The reports used to annually recertify access to Planning Analytics, a system used to prepare the CFS, were not adequate to determine whether the access granted was appropriate. As of the completion of GAO’s fiscal year 2024 audit, nine recommendations were open from prior reports related to control deficiencies in the processes used to prepare the CFS. During the fiscal year 2025 CFS audit, GAO found that Treasury implemented corrective actions that resolved three recommendations from prior reports, and GAO closed these recommendations. These new and continuing deficiencies increase the risk that material amounts and disclosures may not be presented in the CFS in accordance with U.S. GAAP. GAO … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109081 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108995 | Health Insurance Exchanges: Coverage of Non-Excepted Abortion Services by Qualified Health Plans in 2026 | 2026-09-15 | GAO-26-108995 | What GAO Found Under federal law, insurance plans offered in health insurance exchanges—known as qualified health plans (QHP)—may cover abortion services consistent with federal and state laws. Based on federal law applicable in 2026, QHPs are prohibited from using federal funds, such as income-based tax credits, to help pay for abortion services except where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the life of the pregnant woman would be endangered unless an abortion is performed. GAO refers to services that do not meet that exception as “non-excepted abortion services.” In 2026, federal data show 26 percent of QHPs (1,719 of 6,655) in the 50 states and District of Columbia covered non-excepted abortion services. Coverage of these services varied across states, mostly due to state laws restricting or requiring QHP coverage of non-excepted abortion services. State Laws and Coverage of Non-Excepted Abortion Services by Qualified Health Plans (QHP), 2026 State law related to non-excepted abortion services Number of states Number of QHPs providing coverage in those states Coverage prohibited 14 0 (of 2,109 plans) Coverage permitted in limited circumstances 11 0 (of 2,235 plans) Coverage generally required 13 1,609 (of 1,620 plans) No laws regarding coverage 13 110 (of 691 plans) Source: GAO analysis of state laws and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. | GAO-26-108995 Federal law places requirements on the provision of non-excepted abortion services coverage, including requiring issuers to estimate the costs of this coverage at no less than $1 per enrollee, per month. All 15 selected issuers in 10 selected states from which GAO obtained information reported that the average estimated cost of this coverage was less than $1 per enrollee, per month, and that premium amounts were set to $1 to … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108995 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107992 | Air Traffic Control Systems: Ambitious New Modernization Effort Needs to Improve Cost and Schedule Planning | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-107992 | What GAO Found The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS) has an ambitious goal to significantly accelerate the modernization of outdated air traffic control (ATC) systems. The goal is to be achieved at an unprecedented speed. The first of two phases aims to modernize communication, surveillance, weather, and training systems, among other things. For example, FAA plans to modernize voice radio systems 9 years earlier than initially planned. Phase 1 is to be fully completed by December 2028. In July 2025, Congress appropriated $12.5 billion to support BNATCS and FAA is using most of the funds for phase 1. For phase 2, FAA plans to develop new automation systems to track aircraft and optimize traffic. FAA stated that they will need approximately $10.2 billion for this phase (not including facilities). FAA does not yet have an estimated date for when phase 2 will be started or completed. FAA has made progress in implementing portions of phase 1. For example, as of May 2026, FAA reported replacing 2,560 of 5,170 old and frail copper wires with high-speed fiber optic communications cables. Copper Wires from the 1960s Are Being Replaced with Fiber Optic Cables FAA has not developed a comprehensive and well-documented lifecycle cost estimate for BNATCS. In June 2026, FAA officials provided high-level estimates per program for phase 1. However, officials were unable to provide the analysis that supported these figures. In addition, officials acknowledged that the estimate does not include government costs, most of the operations costs for phase 1, or any of the costs for phase 2. In addition, FAA has not developed an integrated master schedule for phase 1. Instead, FAA has 11,389 individual project schedules that are not integrated. As a result, individual projects are scheduled for installations at the same sites, generally without optimizing the schedules to reduce impacts to controller operations. Officials stated they have plans to address this issue, however; they… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107992 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108669 | Federal Real Property: GSA Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Agencies’ Awareness of Meeting Spaces List | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-108669 | 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 also identified challenges to sharing, such as lack of awareness of what spaces are available or how to reserve them. Illustrative Examples of Special Use Spaces in a Federal Building GSA, which manages federal real property for tenant agencies, publishes an online list of meeting spaces that agencies volunteered to share. The list includes information such as room descriptions and a point of contact to reserve the space. However, the list is not comprehensive—some tenant agencies have not added their space to the list, and some GSA rooms are not on the list. GSA periodically emails agencies to request that they update the list, and it relies on agencies to distribute the list to their staff. However, most agency officials GAO interviewed in selected buildings were not aware of GSA’s list. GSA officials noted that federal turnover in 2025 contributed to reduced awareness of the list. They said that starting in 2025, more of their reminder emails were undelivered. Officials said they worked with agencies to update their contacts, and that they may be able to use other mechanisms to more broadly distribute the list. Improving the comprehensiveness of the list and agency awareness of it could help agencies share special use spaces, which could in turn potentially reduce costs by supporting GSA’s efforts to ensu… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108669 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108488 | COVID-19: Federal Efforts and Stakeholder Views on Expediting the Transportation of Personal Protective Equipment | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-108488 | 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 help expedite the transportation of PPE by air and to provide transportation industry stakeholders with regulatory relief that could have expedited the transportation of PPE. For example, DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration issued exemptions from certain regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow certain passenger air carriers to transport cargo in the passenger cabins of aircraft. DOT and other federal agencies also coordinated with transportation industry stakeholders specifically to mitigate supply chain issues and keep goods moving during the pandemic, which may have expedited the transportation of PPE. Boxes of Personal Protective Equipment Transported in the Passenger Cabin of an Aircraft During the COVID-19 Pandemic Stakeholders GAO interviewed shared perspectives on methods to expedite the transportation of PPE used during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many said that an increased federal role was unnecessary or could have had negative consequences. For example, two stakeholders cited the use of “peel piles” to designate areas at ports for containers from specific shippers as a method used to expedite goods during the pandemic, including PPE. Many stakeholders said they did not think more federal involvement was needed in expediting the transportation of PPE during the pandemic, or that increased federal … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108488 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107970 | K-12 Education: Facility Issues Led About One in Five Districts to Cancel School in 2024-25, Affecting 2 Million Students | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-107970 | 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 often disrupted learning. Estimated Percent of School Cancellations Due to a School Facilities Issue Note: The 95 percent confidence intervals for these estimates are 15 to 24 percent of districts; 1.5 to 2.4 million students affected; and 2.5 to 4.5 million days of learning lost. Districts frequently face funding constraints and have used strategies like investing in preventive maintenance to manage costs and better meet facility needs. GAO estimates that 55 percent of districts considered their most recent facilities budget insufficient to meet their needs. Districts often faced difficulty implementing capital projects and many deferred maintenance, which can lead to higher costs in the longer term. GAO found that districts with limited capacity to conduct preventive maintenance had more chronic facility problems and more disruptions to instruction. School leaders described taking steps to help address these challenges. They included making strategic investments in preventive maintenance and cost-saving measures, engaging in careful facilities planning efforts, leveraging expertise, and building community buy-in for capital projects. Nationwide, district leaders had mixed views on the efficacy of state and federal policies related to school facilities. For example, an estimated 73 percent said that limited state formula… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107970 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108068 | Testing and Evaluation Guide: Best Practices for Commercial Off-the-Shelf Systems (Exposure Draft) | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-108068 | 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 TEGuideComments@gao.gov 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 conduct T&E. Also, there is no widely accepted process or organization for sharing best practices for T&E. GAO developed this guide to provide best practices for conducting COTS T&E. GAO has developed this guide to serve multiple audiences: The primary audience for this guide is federal agencies—specifically, T&E practitioners, program managers, and procurement officials. Agency staff can implement the best practices in this guide to improve their T&E, procure effective technologies, and reduce risks of cost and schedule overruns. GAO and other oversight organizations can use this guide to evaluate how effectively federal agencies conduct T&E when buying a COTS product. Vendors can use this guide to evaluate the performance of their products against agency requirements. For more information, contact Karen Howard at HowardK@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108068 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107879 | National Register of Historic Places: Selected States and Tribes Identified Challenges to Participation | 2026-09-14 | GAO-26-107879 | 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 information that would help them effectively nominate properties. Because of these challenges, some of these officials noted that developing nominations required additional time and resources. While NPS officials told GAO they intend to update some guidance documents, they have not developed a plan to do so, including a plan to identify what information SHPOs and THPOs need in updated guidance. Developing such a plan will help NPS better ensure the update includes the information that SHPOs and THPOs—their primary users—need to effectively participate in the program. Tribes GAO spoke with also identified challenges with the National Register process. Some Tribes and tribal organizations told GAO that the National Register evaluation criteria do not always accommodate historically significant tribal properties. NPS officials told GAO they have taken actions to clarify the ways in which Tribes can apply the criteria, including revising guidance on listing traditional cultural places. However, conducting outreach to Tribes to highlight relevant guidance on applying the National Register criteria could provide better assurance that the National Register includes historic properties significant to Tribes. Some Tribes GAO interviewed also expressed concern that nominating properties to the National Register could result in unwanted vis… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107879 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108229 | Nuclear Security Enterprise: Strategic Partnership Projects Can Support Mission, Operations, and Research | 2026-09-10 | GAO-26-108229 | 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 billion in constant fiscal year 2024 dollars. SPP at Sandia National Laboratories accounted for more than half of the total reimbursed costs of NNSA’s SPP, while Kansas City National Security Campus experienced the most growth in SPP during this period, both in costs and the number of SPP. The Department of Defense sponsored the most SPP, and NNSA categorized most SPP as related to national security. Strategic Partnership Projects by Project Type, Fiscal Years 2019 Through 2024 NNSA sites conduct SPP based on capabilities or statute, providing support for mission work or additional benefits. NNSA’s capabilities provide unique opportunities, sometimes otherwise unavailable, to SPP partners. NNSA sites also conduct some SPP due to statutory authorization or the special nature of the relationship between NNSA and the partner organization. SPP can also provide benefits either directly to mission work, operations, or through research insights. Specifically, SPP can provide opportunities for technical staff to enhance their skillsets and SPP partners contribute to facilities and capabilities maintenance. Decreases in NNSA sites’ capacity for SPP could impact NNSA’s and its partners’ ability to achieve their missions and result in NNSA paying more in indirect costs. For example, all nine SPP federal partners GAO interviewed said S… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108229 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107894 | Disaster Risk: Improvements Needed to Enhance FEMA’s National Risk Index | 2026-09-10 | GAO-26-107894 | 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. Moreover, FEMA did not explain how users should apply NRI information in conjunction with other FEMA risk tools to generate effective risk insights. Lack of information about how to apply results undermines the NRI’s perceived utility. FEMA took steps to use diverse sources to design the NRI, including consulting relevant sources and subject matter experts. FEMA also followed an established process to verify and validate hazard calculations and risk scores. However, FEMA did not consistently use sensitivity analyses to verify the model’s outputs or inform significant changes to data sources and methodologies. Conducting such analyses would enhance understanding of factors that could affect NRI results, such as methodological choices that could lead to over- or under-estimation of specific aspects of hazard risk. Disclosing results of any such analyses conducted would also enhance user understanding of how those factors could affect risk scoring in their specific circumstances. FEMA established a process to communicate and engage with subject matter experts on future updates to NRI data. However, FEMA does not have an established mechanism to systematically collect ongoing user feedback and use it for continuous NRI improvement. Without such a mechanism, FEMA does not have the information it needs to assess whether the t… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107894 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-106756 | Agricultural Diseases And Pests: Nationwide Assessment and Strategy Needed to Enhance the Climate Resilience of Farms and Forests | 2026-09-10 | GAO-26-106756 | 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 specific diseases and pests and developed models for forecasting potential outbreak risks, including the southern pine beetle. However, key programs that provide information and assistance to farmers and land managers to help manage the climate-related risks of diseases and pests—such as USDA’s Climate Hubs—have lost staff and face planned funding cuts. In April 2026, GAO requested updated information from USDA about the status and impact of these cuts, but the department did not provide the information. Examples of Climate-Related Risks of Diseases and Pests Development and implementation of a national strategy would help USDA enhance the resilience of farms and forests to the climate-related risks of diseases and pests, according to GAO’s analysis of relevant literature and interviews with knowledgeable stakeholders. A nationwide assessment to identify and assess these climate-related risks is a necessary first step to developing a national strategy to enhance resilience to diseases and pests. A national strategy, informed by a nationwide risk assessment, could help USDA direct its resources effectively to ensure that farmers and land managers get the information they need to enhance their resilience. It could also help limit federal fiscal exposure to climate-related risks to the federal crop insurance program and other … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-106756 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108092 | DOD Installation Services: Action Needed to Improve Oversight of Intergovernmental Support Agreements | 2026-09-09 | GAO-26-108092 | 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 not include specific guidance for prospective IGSAs that provided multiple services to one or more installations. Selected cost estimates GAO reviewed did not fully consider the scope of services that could be performed at various locations under these agreements. Further, some agreements GAO reviewed did not have associated cost estimates or cost-benefit analyses. Without guidance, the military services may incorrectly estimate IGSA costs and have limited information that would help ensure prospective IGSAs are in the best interests of the military. Further, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force did not have procedures to verify installations’ cost and cost savings estimates or revise them if needed. Without complete information on actual IGSA costs and cost savings, the services cannot verify that estimates reflect actual costs, in line with best practices. Public partners involved in nine of the 21 single-installation IGSAs that GAO reviewed used private contractors to perform some of or all the work. The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) requires employees providing services to the federal government to be paid in accordance with prevailing wage rates for such employees in their locality but does not apply to IGSAs. GAO compared minimum wages associated with a nongeneralizable sample of five positions performing … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108092 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108127 | Chemical Security: DHS Should Provide Options for Voluntary Vetting of Facility Personnel for Terrorist Ties | 2026-09-08 | GAO-26-108127 | 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 sector cannot perform on its own; therefore, CISA set up a process with options facilities could use for such vetting. Authorization for the regulatory program lapsed in July 2023. The program, including personnel vetting, was discontinued. High-risk chemical facilities are now responsible for identifying and mitigating their own security risks. According to CISA officials and selected private sector stakeholders GAO interviewed, losing access to the terrorist vetting process is the most significant challenge high-risk facility owners and operators have faced since the discontinuation of CISA’s regulatory program and it has left a gap in chemical facility security that poses substantial risks. The statutory authority that establishes SRMA responsibilities specifies that SRMAs are to implement security programs to assist stakeholders in identifying and mitigating risks to their assets and systems. As of May 2026, CISA said it was exploring whether the agency’s SRMA authority could be used to set up a vetting process. Without federal options for the terrorist vetting of personnel, facility owners and operators lack a critical tool to protect their facilities from an insider terrorist attack and from potential disruptions to critical national supply chains. From fiscal years 2024 to 2025, the number of CISA active personnel dedic… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108127 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107498 | Banking Services: Cannabis Businesses Face Access Challenges | 2026-09-08 | GAO-26-107498 | 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 dissuading institutions from serving CRBs include potential legal and regulatory sanctions and the costs of complying with BSA requirements. Conversely, some institutions decide to serve CRBs to meet community needs or as a business opportunity. According to FinCEN data, the number of financial institutions that reported providing services to CRBs increased from 2015 to 2019 and then remained relatively steady through 2024. FinCEN requires institutions to include specific terms when filing suspicious activity reports on transactions involving CRBs. FinCEN data indicate that about 1,000 banks and credit unions filed such reports in 2024. These data do not identify how many institutions accept CRBs as ongoing customers as institutions may not report or may not know they are providing services to CRBs, or they may report providing services to a CRB in an occasional transaction but not accept CRBs as ongoing customers. In addition, some institutions filing these reports may only serve ancillary businesses, not plant-touching businesses that directly grow, manufacture, or sell cannabis. FinCEN Analysis of Numbers of Banks and Credit Unions Filing Selected Suspicious Activity Reports, Fiscal Years 2015–2024 Obtaining and maintaining financial services remain difficult for CRBs, according to CRB owners and managers. For example, CRBs… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107498 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109086 | Priority Open Recommendations: Department of State | 2026-09-08 | GAO-26-109086 | 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. Taking action to implement all of GAO’s open priority recommendations would help enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations across State. Why GAO Did This Study Priority open recommendations are the GAO recommendations that warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies because their implementation could save large amounts of money; improve congressional or executive branch decision-making on major issues; eliminate mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or make progress toward addressing a high risk or duplication issue, among other benefits. Since 2015, GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations. For more information, contact Kimberly Gianopoulos at gianopoulosk@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109086 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108208 | Federal Rulemaking: Agencies Continue to Use Good Cause and Other Mechanisms to Forgo Public Comments | 2026-09-04 | GAO-26-108208 | 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 report, which found that 77 percent of major rules issued without an NPRM cited good cause for doing so. GAO found that the use of expedited rulemaking increased during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. There was little variation in use during non-pandemic years from January 20, 2013, through January 20, 2025, as agencies issued between two and 10 major rules without an NPRM per year. During the pandemic agencies expedited the issuance of 55 rules in response to COVID-19. Agencies cited good cause for 41 of these rules. Number of COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Major Rules Reviewed Using Expedited Rulemaking, by Year, Jan. 20, 2013–Jan. 20, 2025 Agencies reported on the economic effects of 66 percent of the rules that GAO reviewed. COVID-19 related rules were less likely to include this information due to the emergency nature of the rules. Agencies requested public comments for 99 percent of the interim final rules that GAO reviewed and received comments on 94 percent of these rules. This is an increase from GAO’s 2012 report which found agencies requested comments for 63 percent of major rules issued without an NPRM. Why GAO Did This Study On average, agencies publish over 2,000 final regulations each year to achieve goals such as ensuring access to food and healthcare services and addressing national emergencie… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108208 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107719 | Bank Financial Disclosures: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Information Provided to Investors | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-107719 | 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, auditors, and others. SEC is required by law to review public companies’ disclosures. However, 11 public banks—including two with more than $80 billion in assets—are not subject to SEC review because they operate without a corporate parent known as a bank holding company. (Two of the three banks that failed in spring 2023 operated without a holding company. Shareholders lost more than $29 billion in investments in these two banks between the end of 2022 and May 2023.) For those banks, Congress charged banking regulators with certain functions and duties of SEC. However, GAO found that banking regulators’ review processes, unlike SEC’s, do not assess disclosures for investors’ benefit. Reassessing disclosure review authority could help Congress determine whether changes are needed to strengthen investor protection. Comparison of Federal Regulators’ Processes for Annual Disclosure Reviews Note: Annual disclosures include details on a company’s business, its risks, and operating and financial results. GAO reviewed 2021 and 2022 disclosures for the three banks that failed in spring 2023 to analyze the information they provided about interest rate and liquidity risks. GAO and banking regulators previously found that weak management of these risks contributed to the banks’ failures. Although each bank described setting thresh… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107719 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107781 | Defense Management: DOD Needs to Review Its Defense Agencies and Field Activities for Efficiency and Effectiveness | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-107781 | 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 effort that did not ensure the completion of the reviews. Formalizing guidance for the process would better position DOD to meet its reporting requirements and would provide Congress with better information to inform decision-making related to DOD’s efficiency and effectiveness. Timeline of Defense Agency and DOD Field Activity Reviews Since 2018 DOD has not assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of its DAFAs, including the Defense Human Resources Agency (DHRA), because the department did not clearly define measures to be used for its most recent DAFA reviews. In its May 2026 memorandum, DOD included standard measures for efficiency and effectiveness, but the memorandum lacks detail on these measures. Moreover, the measures are not clearly defined or established in formalized guidance. Clearly defining how to assess efficiency and effectiveness in formalized guidance for the DAFA reviews would enable DOD to more comprehensively assess DHRA and the other DAFAs’ performance. As part of its DAFA reviews, DOD is statutorily required to identify each activity of a DAFA that is substantially similar to, or duplicative of, an activity carried out by another organization within DOD. GAO found overlap in two training areas within the DAFAs: (1) the leader development programs at DHRA, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the Washing… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107781 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108455 | Secret Service: Protection Policies Should be Consistently Updated to Better Ensure Protectee Safety | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-108455 | 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 officials told GAO that doing so would be important because it shows an incident was fully reviewed. In the absence of this information, it is sometimes unclear why the Secret Service maintained the status quo. For example, the Secret Service encountered drone incidents from 2015 to 2021, but did not update its policies to address civilian use of drones prior to July 2024, when a shooter used a drone in an assassination attempt of then-former President Trump. Revising its policy to require personnel to document the rationale for not making policy changes after incidents would provide the Secret Service with more complete information when considering protection policy updates to mitigate future threats. Further, the Secret Service has not reviewed and updated protection policies in a timely manner. These policies are to be reviewed and updated within 4 years of issuance, but the Secret Service has not reviewed or updated eight of 22 protection policies within the required time frame. Secret Service officials said they try to make timely updates but are not always able to identify personnel available to do so. Revising its policy to assign responsibility to specific positions for updating protection policies within required time frames could help the Secret Service incorporate the most current techniques into advance planni… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108455 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107726 | Flight Simulators: FAA Should Take Steps to Ensure Oversight Efforts Address Increased Workload | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-107726 | 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—from the standard 12 months up to 36 months—for simulators that demonstrate consistent, high-quality performance. Trends in the Number of Simulators Under Federal Aviation Administration Oversight and National Simulator Program Staff, 1990–2025 However, GAO found that NSP has not communicated with simulator sponsors about its process for determining simulators’ eligibility for the EEI program and the intervals between evaluations of simulators in the program. Six of 10 selected sponsors raised concerns about communication, including insufficient opportunity to provide information that could help improve EEI determinations. For example, two sponsors cited potential safety issues that could result from extending the intervals between evaluations. Communicating with sponsors could help NSP make more informed decisions about eligibility and evaluation intervals, and identify and address risks associated with those determinations. GAO found that NSP has identified staffing and skills gaps but has not addressed all mission-critical skills gaps, including in standards development. Developing and implementing a process to address all identified mission-critical skills gaps would help NSP ensure its staff has the requisite skills to keep pace with evolving technology while handling an increased oversight workload. Why GAO Did This… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107726 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108426 | Disaster Contracting: FEMA and the Corps of Engineers Have Opportunities to Improve Local Vendor Use | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-108426 | 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 regulations, a major disaster area is generally defined in the official presidential disaster declaration. However, some contracting officers identified the local area incorrectly or did not understand how to do so. For example: FEMA. One contracting officer stated that they identified the entire state of Tennessee as the local area instead of staying within the declared disaster area in anticipation that other parts of the state might be added later. Corps. One contracting officer responsible for four contracts for the Maui Wildfires stated that there was not an official way to identify a local area. Example of a Contracting Officer Incorrectly Identifying the Local Disaster Area The Corps has taken efforts to ensure that its contracting officers correctly identify the local area, but FEMA has yet to fully address the issue. For example, its three contracting officers who identified the local area incorrectly had received training on local vendor use. This indicates a need for additional action. Until FEMA takes additional steps to ensure that its contracting officers correctly identify the local area, it could miss opportunities to both award contracts to local vendors and help communities jump-start economic recovery after a disaster. Additionally, all the selected Corps’s contracts were missing documents related to the… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108426 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109096 | DHS Contracts: Reported Potential Cost Avoidance from Terminations Will Not Fully Materialize | 2026-09-03 | GAO-26-109096 | 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 Secretary for all contract terminations regardless of value and for awards of any contracts worth $25 million or more. The requirement for Deputy Secretary approval of contract terminations was rescinded in April 2026. GAO analysis shows that from January 20, 2025, through September 30, 2025, DHS completely or partially terminated 438 contracts for convenience—meaning that termination of work under the contracts was determined to be in the federal government’s interest. DHS had obligated over $1.6 billion for these contracts prior to termination. Since these contracts were terminated, GAO analysis shows that DHS deobligated a net total of over $92 million on these contracts. These funds represent cost savings in that they reduce federal obligations and may be available for other purposes. However, if DHS should subsequently obligate additional funds to perform similar work associated with terminated contracts, the amount of cost savings or avoidance would be further diminshed. DHS publicly reported on its website that its contract terminations over this time frame could allow the department to potentially avoid over $10.5 billion in costs. However, this overstates actual costs avoided for two reasons. First, it represents the maximum that could be obligated on these contracts, not how much would have actually been obligated. … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109096 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108303 | High School Aviation Maintenance Programs: FAA Should Assess Expanding Access to the Mechanic Knowledge Test | 2026-09-01 | GAO-26-108303 | What GAO Found The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues certificates to aircraft mechanics and to the more than 200 aviation maintenance schools that train them. Eleven of these certificated schools are high schools, and 43 are colleges, universities, or career and technical centers that serve high school students. In addition, at least 43 high schools offer programs in aviation maintenance but are not certificated by FAA. The school representatives that GAO interviewed had little data on career outcomes but cited a range of pathways that graduates have pursued, including further training and enrolling in 4-year colleges. FAA-Certificated Schools That Train High School Students in Aviation Maintenance Stakeholders identified several barriers to students becoming aircraft mechanics, especially limited awareness of the career option among students entering high school. Stakeholders also offered options to address these barriers, such as internships with aviation industry partners to increase awareness. Some stakeholders cited as a barrier the ineligibility of students from uncertificated schools, who do not have the requisite work experience or additional education, to take the general written knowledge test—typically the first in a series of FAA tests that students must pass to become an FAA-certificated aircraft mechanic. For example, one stakeholder said that having to take courses at a certificated school can be costly after taking courses at an uncertificated school. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 requires FAA to task the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee to establish the Airman Knowledge Testing Working Group by May 2025, to assess whether students who have successfully completed an aviation maintenance curriculum should be allowed to take the general written knowledge test. FAA has not established this working group or obtained this assessment. FAA officials said they were unable to do so because, according to the Department of Transportation, it terminated all members of the advisory… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108303 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109393 | VA Electronic Health Record Modernization: Actions Needed to Sustain Accelerated System Deployments | 2026-09-01 | GAO-26-109393 | What GAO Found After three unsuccessful attempts over two decades, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) undertook a fourth effort in 2017—the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program—to modernize its legacy health information system. GAO has previously reported on the challenges VA has experienced with this effort. In these reports, GAO made 18 recommendations to improve cost estimating, schedule, program management, user adoption and satisfaction, and operational testing. GAO deemed 12 of these as priority recommendations because of their criticality to successful future deployments. As of August 2026, VA has not yet fully implemented 14 of the 18 recommendations. Implementation Status of GAO Electronic Health Record System-Related Recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs as of August 2026 Report Total number of recommendations Number of priority recommendations Implementation status of recommendations GAO-25-106874 (March 2025) 3 2 2 priority open (not implemented) 1 closed (implemented) GAO-23-106731 (May 2023) 10 10 6 priority open (not implemented) 4 priority open (partially implemented) GAO-22-103718 (February 2022) 2 0 1 open (not implemented) 1 closed (implemented) GAO-21-224 (February 2021) 2 0 2 closed (implemented) GAO-20-473 (June 2020) 1 0 1 open (not implemented) Source: GAO reports. I GAO-26-109393 In March 2025, GAO reported that VA had made improvements at five initial sites but noted that the department’s actions to address challenges had impacted the program’s total cost estimate and schedule. Accordingly, GAO made two priority recommendations to update the cost estimate and schedule. Senate and House Authorizing and Appropriatio… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109393 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107919 | Telecommunications: GSA Should Assess Agencies’ Effectiveness at Preventing Service Disruptions | 2026-08-31 | GAO-26-107919 | What GAO Found The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for ensuring that federal agencies have access to telecommunications services. Six agencies GAO selected to review recently completed their transitions from expired, legacy telecommunications contracts to the replacement Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract. However, their transitions were delayed by more than three years past GSA’s September 2022 revised deadline. Due to continued delays, GSA took actions to extend the service period of the legacy contracts until May 2026 at the latest to avoid service disruptions. The delays exposed the agencies to price increases due to the ability of vendors to raise prices during the extended service periods and the phasing out of legacy telecommunications technologies. In particular, there was a total 206 percent price increase from February to March 2025 for the selected agencies’ Networx contracts—the largest of the legacy contracts. Amount Billed for Selected Agencies’ Legacy Networx Contracts in February 2025 and March 2025 Agency February 2025 costs March 2025 costs Percent change Department of Agriculture $227,986.93 $543,645.43 138% Department of Commerce $1,768,695.34 $5,761,127.10 226% Department of Defense $4,842,079.74 $15,012,896.07 210% Department of Homeland Security $5,855,206.65 $16,853,049.42 188% Department of the Interior $399,435.26 $1,858,077.70 365% Department of Transportation $282,652.93 $896,799.13 217% Total $13,376,056.85 $40,925,594.85 206% Source: GAO analysis of billing data provided by the General Services Administration. | GAO-26-107919 Note: Agencies’ in… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107919 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107725 | Broadband Deployment: Agencies Should Take Steps to Better Target Underserved Areas and Consider Sustainability | 2026-08-31 | GAO-26-107725 | What GAO Found Since 2020, four federal agencies administered the bulk of federal funding for broadband deployment through the nine programs GAO reviewed. These were the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Departments of Agriculture and the Treasury. For example, NTIA oversees the over $42-billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which provides grants to states and territories that select providers to deploy broadband networks to underserved areas. As of February 2026, all nine programs had begun distributing funding. Expected Completion Date for Selected Programs’ Broadband Deployment Program (agency) Date State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (Treasury) 2026 Broadband Infrastructure Program (NTIA); Capital Projects Fund (Treasury) 2027 Selected High Cost subprograms (FCC) 2028 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program rounds one and two (NTIA) 2029 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program round three (NTIA); selected High Cost subprograms (FCC); Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (NTIA) 2030 and beyond Source: Documentation and officials from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Department of the Treasury. | GAO-26-107725 Note: Table excludes the U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that GAO reviewed because expected completion dates vary by funding round. Federal agencies target funding to underserved areas using FCC mapping data showing which locations do and do not have broadband access, as reported by providers. To improve data accuracy, FCC accepts challenges from the public and makes updates if needed. Some program participants and stakeholders said this challenge process was burdensome and unclear. For example, challenging a large number of locat… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107725 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107959 | National Security Space: DOD Has Opportunities to Improve Its Use of Commercial Data and Related Services | 2026-08-27 | GAO-26-107959 | What GAO Found The U.S. commercial space sector has grown rapidly over the last few years, and offers data and data-related services—such as the imagery below—that the Department of Defense (DOD) uses to maintain national security. National Reconnaissance Office Purchased Commercial Images of Chinese Aircraft Carriers Within the Space Force, the Joint Commercial Operations Cell (JCO)—the main organization that buys data and services—purchased various types of data and services through the contractor-operated Global Data Marketplace. JCO expended $76.8 million on data and services from the marketplace from January 2023 through September 2025. These purchases supported missions including space domain awareness and tactical surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) also purchased various forms of commercial imagery and commercial analytic products, respectively, from fiscal years 2021 through 2025. Some Space Force officials told GAO about challenges they have faced related to purchasing and using commercial space data such as licensing costs, perceived use restrictions, and concerns over long-term access to the data. These challenges led to hesitation to purchase and use commercial data among these potential users. JCO leads an informal working group to discuss and coordinate current and future commercial space data purchases made by various federal organizations. This working group meets monthly and coordinates purchases. GAO found that many of the challenges reported by Space Force officials could have been addressed with discussions at the working group, but the Space Force officials were not part of the working group and information about the working group is not widely available. JCO officials said they would be supportive of information about the working group being listed to increase awareness. Increased communication about the working group could lead to additional Space Force and other officials engaging in d… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107959 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109256 | Navy Readiness: Actions Needed to Address Costly Attack Submarine Maintenance Challenges | 2026-08-27 | GAO-26-109256 | What GAO Found The U.S. Navy has not fully mitigated attack submarine fleet maintenance and other challenges affecting readiness. Over the last 10 years, the U.S. Navy has lost more than 15,000 operational days due to maintenance delays and idle time on active attack submarines. These delays resulted in an estimated $3.4 billion in costs to sustain crews and submarines that provided no operational capability. U.S. Navy Attack Submarine Depot Maintenance Delays, Length of Depot Maintenance Periods, and Idle Time, Fiscal Years 2016–2025 Lost operational days include delays completing depot maintenance and active idle time. Active idle time describes a period when an attack submarine and its crew must remain pier-side because they are no longer certified to conduct normal operations and cannot be inducted into a maintenance period. In addition to lost operational days, the Navy faces significant challenges with managing inactive idle time for attack submarines. Inactive idle time describes when an attack submarine designated for decommissioning cannot be inducted into a dry dock in a shipyard. As a result, the submarine and its crew must remain pier-side until a shipyard has the capacity in a dry dock to defuel their nuclear reactor. While the U.S. Navy has made recent progress in reducing active idle time, inactive idle time for submarines has grown and is projected to worsen. Without mitigation, 15 attack submarines will enter inactive idle time from fiscal year 2026 through fiscal year 2030—during which time the Navy could incur more than 14,000 days of inactive idle time and $3.1 billion in costs to operate and support these inactive submarines. The U.S. Navy has not fully evaluated alternative options to more efficiently decommission attack submarines and develop and implement an inactivation plan that could allow them to reduce inactive idle time for crews and save billions. Why GAO Did This Study According to the U.S. Navy, its 44 attack submarines, as of fiscal year 2025, provide the United States an… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109256 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107850 | DOE Contracting: Risk-Informed Oversight and Clearer Expectations for Assurance Systems Would Improve Accountability | 2026-08-26 | GAO-26-107850 | What GAO Found Selected field offices in Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) have taken steps to evaluate effectiveness of contractor assurance systems (CAS) in accordance with DOE policy, though neither DOE nor EM have defined effectiveness or specified evaluation criteria. The basis on which the selected field offices made their respective effectiveness determinations was unclear (see table). In addition, all selected field offices reported examples of poor CAS performance and recurring issues that undermined the reliability of the effectiveness determinations. How Selected EM Field Offices Assessed Contractor Assurance System (CAS) Effectiveness Selected field office CAS effectiveness determination Was CAS effectiveness defined? Were effectiveness criteria included? Hanford Effective No No Idaho Effective No No Los Alamos Not determined No No Source: GAO analysis of Office of Environmental Managment (EM) information. | GAO-26-107850 Hanford: The field office reported that the contractor demonstrated poor work planning and conduct of operations, requiring EM to formally request a corrective action plan in several areas. Also, the contractor’s review of issues between January 2022 and October 2023 found that it improperly closed and insufficiently documented nearly 40 percent of sampled issues at the two highest significance levels. These are issues that should not recur or are typically related to misuse of resources, according to field office officials. Idaho: The field office reported that the number and severity of conduct of operations and maintenance-related abnormal events indicated a need for improved rigor and discipline in operations. The contractor noted trends that showed a continuing need for attention to detail and personnel awareness. Additionally, the co… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107850 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108038 | K-12 Education: Improved Oversight Could Help DOD Schools Better Support Students with Literacy and Math Skill Deficits | 2026-08-26 | GAO-26-108038 | What GAO Found In school year 2024–2025, about 10 percent of the approximately 60,000 K-12 students attending Department of Defense Education Activity’s (DODEA) schools full time received strategic instruction. This is short-term extra help in a small group setting (see figure). About 5 percent had a “specific learning disability” (SLD). SLDs are a group of disorders, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia, related to understanding language or doing mathematical calculations. The number of DODEA students with SLDs increased 29 percent from school years 2018–2019 through 2024–2025. DODEA Instructional Materials for Students with Literacy and Math Deficits Most staff in the 11 selected schools GAO visited—in five districts that serve 63 percent of DODEA students with SLDs—outlined obstacles to timely identifying students needing strategic instruction or special education for SLDs. These included limited screening tools, challenges with submitting complete student referrals for strategic instruction and special education, and delayed special education evaluations. For example, at nine of 11 schools, staff said they needed more or better screening tools to identify students. DODEA’s screening tools do not directly assess elementary school students’ foundational phonics skills, which help identify reading deficits. They also are not available for all students. These limitations make it difficult to identify students who are behind grade level when they arrive at a school—which is important given DODEA’s highly mobile population. In July 2026, DODEA officials said that they procured universal screening tools for all grades and plan to start administering them in late 2026. When implemented, these tools will provide key data to fill gaps in identifying students’ needs and connect them to support. DODEA staff at all 11 schools we visited also cited obstacles to helping students meet their literacy and math goals. These included strategic instruction and special education teachers not receiving professional… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108038 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108132 | Opportunity Zones: Effects of Original Tax Incentive Mostly Unknown and Revised Incentive May Offer Improvements | 2026-08-24 | GAO-26-108132 | What GAO Found Qualified Opportunity Zones (Zone)—low-income census tracts nominated by governors and designated by the Department of the Treasury—have lower incomes and higher poverty than other census tracts. The law commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) changed the eligibility criteria for Zone designation, which resulted in fewer eligible tracts for future selection. Stakeholders, including some states and subject-matter specialists, reported that this may allow better targeting of the tax incentive to the most economically distressed areas. Stakeholders reported the incentive is primarily funding real estate development. According to state officials and Qualified Opportunity Fund representatives, Zones that received investment tended to be in urban locations and have access to infrastructure and community support. Tax benefits for investments in newly defined rural Zones could drive investment in those areas, but stakeholders were uncertain about the extent. States were mostly unsure about the effects of investment on outcomes, but about 20 percent of states cited increased job creation and housing as effects. States’ Views of Effects of Opportunity Zone Investment on Selected Outcomes in Their States, 2025 OBBBA’s changes to the tax incentive may mitigate some challenges state officials and fund representatives identified with the original incentive. For example, new requirements for funds and for Treasury to report on characteristics of investments will allow the government and the public to better understand investment and its potential economic effects in Zones. Further, the additional time the act provides for states to prepare to nominate census tracts to be designated as Zones may help states make informed selections. Why GAO Did This Study Congress created the Opportunity Zone tax incentive to spur investment in economically distressed communities. Taxpayers who invest in Qualified Opportunity Funds—funds organized for the purpose of investing in Zones—are eligible for cer… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108132 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-109201 | Export-Import Bank: Monitoring of Exports with Dual Military and Civilian Uses as of 2026 | 2026-08-21 | GAO-26-109201 | What GAO Found As of August 2026, EXIM was not monitoring the end use of any dual-use export because all such transactions had been repaid in full. EXIM did not finance any new exports under its dual-use authority in fiscal year 2025, according to EXIM authorization data and EXIM officials. Why GAO Did This Study The mission of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is to help support American jobs by facilitating the export of U.S. goods and services and financing imports. In 1994, Congress passed legislation authorizing EXIM to facilitate the financing of U.S. exports of defense articles and services with both civilian and military applications, provided that the bank determines such dual-use items are nonlethal and primarily meant for civilian end use. Included in the same act was a provision for GAO, in consultation with EXIM, to report annually on the end uses of dual-use exports financed by EXIM during the second preceding fiscal year. This report (1) examines the status of EXIM's monitoring of dual-use exports that it continued to finance in fiscal year 2024, as of August 2026, and (2) identifies any new dual-use exports that EXIM financed in fiscal year 2025. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed EXIM documentation and data on dual-use exports and interviewed EXIM officials. For more information, contact Nagla'a El-Hodiri at elhodirin@gao.gov. | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-109201 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107255 | Installation Maintenance: Better Information on Risks and Challenges Needed to Improve Oversight of DOD Facility Conditions | 2026-08-21 | GAO-26-107255 | What GAO Found The Department of Defense (DOD) does not request full funding of identified needs for installation maintenance or major improvement projects for facilities. This shortage has led to an estimated $285 billion of maintenance backlogs in fiscal year 2025. Due to competing budget priorities, DOD set a goal to fund 90 percent of its maintenance needs, but GAO found that the military services continue to fall short of this goal by funding about 80 percent of these needs. DOD has not fully determined the risks to its mission and to the quality of life of its personnel as a result of not meeting its funding goal. Fully determining and communicating these risks would provide better information to DOD and Congress to weigh budget priorities. Examples of Facility Deterioration at Selected Military Installations due to Deferred Maintenance, Resulting in Damage, Corrosion, and Suspected Mold DOD also faces challenges in hiring and retaining key maintenance workers, which are critical for maintaining facilities. According to officials, challenges include hiring in remote and isolated locations; employment competition with the private sector; and federal hiring, pay, and work eligibility practices, which have been exacerbated by recent workforce reductions and the subsequent hiring freeze. However, GAO found that the military departments have not fully identified the extent of maintenance workforce shortages or developed strategies to address these challenges. Doing so would better position department and service leadership to ensure that they have the skilled workforce to address maintenance needs. Reliable information is important for DOD to effectively prioritize needed maintenance and improvement projects in light of insufficient funding and workforce challenges. However, GAO found that standards for maintenance vary across the services, limiting effective department-wide decision-making. Additionally, installations rely on maintenance work order data systems to respond to identified maintenance needs. … | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107255 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-108019 | Army Modernization: Better Schedule and Cost Information Needed to Support Scaling Battlefield Network | 2026-08-20 | GAO-26-108019 | What GAO Found The Army’s two efforts to modernize its battlefield networks—the nearer-term Command and Control Fix (C2 Fix) and the longer-term Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2)—seek to make command and control more adaptive, survivable, and better suited for modern large-scale combat operations. Representation of Evolution of Battlefield Network Through Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) The Army’s approach to developing C2 Fix and NGC2 incorporates some key elements of an iterative business case. For example, the Army is using a flexible acquisition approach that collects user feedback and makes changes based on evolving market conditions and product capabilities. However, the Army has not taken important steps to implement other key elements that could position the Army to assess the scalability of these efforts. Specifically: The Army developed short-term schedules for NGC2 through fiscal year 2027 with a tentative goal of fielding NGC2’s full technology stack across 11 divisions and four corps by the end of fiscal year 2032. However, the Army is not well positioned to assess its ability to meet this timeline because it has not developed a detailed schedule that identifies the specific units, by fiscal year, that will receive the modernized capabilities. The Army identified NGC2 costs through fiscal year 2026 in documentation supporting the President’s fiscal year 2026 budget submission totaling approximately $3.3 billion. However, the Army has limited visibility into long-term costs because it has not completed an initial cost estimate for the life cycle of the collective effort. The absence of a detailed schedule and long-term cost data limits the Army’s ability to assess whether it has the time and resources it needs to meet its tentative goal for fielding NGC2 across the service by 2032. This gap risks access to secure and reliable communications that soldiers in the field need for modern large-scale combat operations. This information would also better position the Army and C… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108019 | ||||||||||
| GAO-26-107385 | Nuclear Fuel: Actions Needed to Enhance Cost Reporting and Economic Analysis for Federal Uranium Supply Efforts | 2026-08-20 | GAO-26-107385 | What GAO Found The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is preserving a sufficient inventory of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and highly enriched uranium (HEU) to meet national security needs until the 2040s. Separately, the largest needs for civilian enriched uranium are fuel for light water and advanced reactors. Estimates from the Department of Energy (DOE) and others about LEU supply and demand are generally well established, but factors such as the ban on LEU imports from Russia could affect availability. Demand estimates for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) vary, and estimated supply may not meet near-term demands. National Security and Civilian Use of Enriched Uranium NNSA has a plan to meet national security needs for enriched uranium that includes using current inventory until the 2040s while pursuing three enrichment efforts for long-term needs. NNSA estimates total program costs for these efforts of about $140 billion through 2105. NNSA has not yet conveyed those costs in a biennial report required by Congress because the estimates are new. Providing this information would inform Congress of future costs for any future production options being considered. On the civilian side, DOE awarded $900 million to one company to expand LEU enrichment in the U.S. to support the existing commercial reactor fleet. DOE also issued $1.8 billion in awards to two companies to build HALEU capacity in the U.S. to support development of advanced reactors. However, DOE did not document an analysis to determine whether its actions are sufficient to induce expansion of commercial LEU and HALEU production in the U.S. According to agency documents and stakeholders, a range of challenges may affect NNSA’s and DOE’s goals to increase domestic enriched uranium production, but both agencies are working to mitigate challenges. For example, limitations in domestic fuel cycle infrastructure could challenge NNSA and DOE in achieving their goals. In 2025, DOE entered into an agreement to increase conversion capaci… | https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107385 |
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