-
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
Categories
- About GAO
- Agriculture and Food
- Auditing and Financial Management
- Budget and Spending
- Business Regulation and Consumer Protection
- Collections
- Communications
- Coronavirus
- disaster assistance
- Disaster Assistance
- Duplication and Cost Savings
- Economic Development
- Education
- Employment
- Energy
- Equal Opportunity
- Financial Markets and Institutions
- Fiscal Outlook and The Debt
- Fraud
- Government Operations
- Graphic
- Health Care
- High Risk List
- Homeland Security
- Housing
- Human Capital
- Infographic
- Information Management
- Information Security
- Information Technology
- Interactive graphic
- International Affairs
- Justice and Law Enforcement
- Key Issues
- Mission Team
- National Defense
- Natural Resources and Environment
- OGC
- Podcast
- Quick Look
- Racial Disparities
- Recovery Act
- Retirement Security
- Science and Technology
- Space
- Tax Policy and Administration
- Technology Assessment
- Topics
- Trade
- Transportation
- Veterans
- Video
- Worker and Family Assistance
Category Archives: Budget and Spending
USAspending.gov Contains a Treasure Trove of Information, But How Reliable Is It?
August 14 is the deadline for agencies, including those that led the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to certify their spending data made available on USAspending.gov. Federal agencies are required to report spending information under the DATA Act, and … Continue reading
Posted in About GAO, Budget and Spending
Tagged DATA Act, federal management, financial audits, financial data, FMA, Paula Rascona, USASpending.gov
Leave a comment
The DATA Act: Checking in on Spending Transparency
Federal agencies spend over $4 trillion a year. But how that money is spent isn’t always easy to track. That’s one reason why Congress passed the DATA Act—requiring agencies not only to publicly report spending data on USAspending.gov, but also … Continue reading
Posted in Auditing and Financial Management, Budget and Spending, Government Operations
Tagged Budget data, Data elements, Data integrity, data quality, Defense procurement, Federal funding accountability, Federal procurement, federal spending, Federal spending transparency, Financial accountability, Financial Management and Assurance, FMA, Medicare spending, Michelle Sager, Office of Management and Budget, Paula Rascona, SI, strategic issues
Leave a comment
Finding Common Ground on Flood Insurance Reform
As we enter the peak of hurricane season, many homeowners have wisely chosen to protect their properties by purchasing flood insurance. However, the nation’s taxpayers remain largely unprotected as the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is poised to continue to … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Financial Markets and Institutions, High Risk List, Housing
Tagged Alicia Puente Cackley, Congress, financial solvency, flood, flood insurance, flood risk, flooding, FMCI, full-risk premiums, insurance, insurance premiums, means-based subsidies, National Flood Insurance Program, NFIP, property owners, Treasury Department
Leave a comment
Federal Government Contracting for Fiscal Year 2018 (infographic)
With tax season over, now is a good time to look at how the government uses your tax dollars. About 40% of the government’s discretionary spending goes to contracts for goods and services covering everything from health care to hand … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Government Operations, Homeland Security, Infographic, National Defense, Science and Technology
Tagged Bill Woods, budget, CNSA, competitive bids, contracting, defense spending, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, DOD, federal spending, government contracting, high risk list, NASA, small business
Leave a comment
GAO’s Guide to Saving the Government Billions of Dollars: Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication in Federal Programs
Today we released our 9th annual report on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in the federal government, adding 98 new actions that Congress or federal agencies can take to improve government programs. For example: The Department of Energy could avoid spending … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Duplication and Cost Savings, Government Operations, Podcast
Tagged Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, cost savings, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, duplication, fragmentation, Jessica Lucas-Judy, overlap, quantum computing, SI, synthetic biology
Leave a comment
The Nation’s Fiscal Health: A Warning about the Government’s Finances
Without a change in law or policy, the gap between the amount of money the federal government collects and the amount it spends will continue to grow, likely reaching $1 trillion in the next few years. We issued our third … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Fiscal Outlook and The Debt, Podcast, Video
Tagged Dawn Simpson, debt-to-GDP ratio, federal debt, financial reports, fiscal condition, fiscal health, fiscal outlook, GDP, interest, long-term debt, Medicaid, medicare, national debt, Robert Dacey, SI, simulation, Susan Irving
Leave a comment
Did You Know the Government Gets Audited, Too?
Tax season has many people diligently filing their returns to avoid being audited. While the federal government is not a tax-paying entity, it actually undergoes an audit of its financial statements every year. How do we know? Because we perform … Continue reading
Posted in Auditing and Financial Management, Budget and Spending, Video
Tagged annual audit, consolidated financial statements, Dawn Simpson, Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, financial audits, financial reports, fiscal outlook, FMA, improper payments, information security, loans receivable, Office of Management and Budget
Leave a comment
The Nation’s Precarious Fiscal Future
The United States faces a highly challenging fiscal future. Absent change in policy, the federal fiscal path is unsustainable—debt is growing faster than the economy (GDP). This springs from the continuing gap between the amount of money the federal government … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Fiscal Outlook and The Debt, Graphic, Podcast, Video
Tagged Dawn Simpson, federal debt, federal spending, fiscal future, fiscal health, FMA, GDP, Robert Dacey, SI, simulation, Susan Irving
Leave a comment
Saving Dollar Bills: Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication in Federal Programs
We released our latest report today on fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in the federal government. Since 2011, we’ve been reporting on ways the government can be more efficient and save taxpayers’ money by looking for programs that work on the … Continue reading
What Happens When People Don’t Pay Their Taxes?
It’s almost the last day to file your taxes this year—for most people, they are due April 17. Some taxpayers have filed already, and some will be racing to get that last-minute postmark on their returns. Some taxpayers make mistakes … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Fraud, Tax Policy and Administration
Tagged James McTigue, Jay McTigue, Jessica Lucas-Judy, SI, tax compliance, taxes
Leave a comment
