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Recent Posts
- COVID-19 Vaccines and the Lessons Learned from H1N1
- Recent Cyberattacks Further Highlight Need For Action
- Protecting Federal Research from Foreign Influence
- Celebrating 100 Years of Making Government Work Better for You
- Getting in Fiscal Shape — How Changing Future Spending and Revenue Could Improve Government Finances (interactive graphic)
- What is 5G and Why Does It Matter?
- Why Do Banks Share Your Financial Information and Are They Allowed To?
- Why is CDC Screening Fewer People for Breast and Cervical Cancer?
- How GAO Can Help in a Congressional and Presidential Transition
- Continued Surge in COVID Cases Highlights Need for Urgent Federal Action
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Author Archives: WatchBlog
Operation Warp Speed—Federal Efforts to Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccine and Therapeutic Development
Note: This blog was updated on December 7 to clarify some references to the distribution and licensing aspects of a COVID-19 vaccine. Developing a vaccine can take 10 years or longer. However, as COVID-19 cases rapidly rose during the early … Continue reading
GAO’s Scorecard—How we saved the federal government $77.6 billion this year
GAO audits federal programs and spending to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected and that programs operate effectively and efficiently. While we share our findings with Congress and the public through hundreds of reports and testimonies issued throughout the year, … Continue reading
The Risks of Lead Paint and How Lead is Detected in Blood
Lead exposure poses significant health risks—particularly to children whose growing bodies absorb more lead than adults. In recognition of Lead Poisoning Awareness Week, the WatchBlog is highlighting the dangers of lead poisoning. On Tuesday, we looked at the risk that … Continue reading
Protecting Children from Lead Exposure in Schools and Child Care Facilities
Exposure to lead—like that found in contaminated water—can result in significant health problems. Children are particularly at risk because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults. Negative health effects include anemia, kidney and brain damage, as well as learning … Continue reading
Deconstructing Deepfakes—How do they work and what are the risks?
Last month, Microsoft introduced a new deepfake detection tool. Weeks ago, Intel launched another. As more and more companies follow suit and more concerns arise about the use of this technology, we take a look in today’s WatchBlog at how … Continue reading
The Wave of Concerns Facing the National Flood Insurance Program
Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program in 1968 to protect homeowners and alleviate taxpayers’ exposure to flood losses. However, the growing magnitude of major flood events, combined with attempts to keep homeowners’ policy rates affordable, threaten the program’s solvency … Continue reading
How does FEMA help people recover from major disasters?
Heavy hurricane seasons in 2017 and 2018, along with devastating wildfires in California in those 2 years, affected more than 47 million people in the United States—about 15 percent of the national population. In response to disaster events like these, … Continue reading
Fighting Money Laundering with the Bank Secrecy Act
Money launderers beware: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)—an agency within the Department of Treasury—has many ways of collecting information on financial activities, making life harder for criminals to hide their illicit cash. Today’s WatchBlog looks at 2 recent reports … Continue reading
Is it Harder for Women to Save for Retirement?
In a word: yes. On Thursday, the Comptroller General of the United States Gene Dodaro, head of GAO, testified about the unique challenges women face saving for retirement. Among those challenges, he noted that women have longer life spans, lower … Continue reading
