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- The Wave of Concerns Facing the National Flood Insurance Program
- How does FEMA help people recover from major disasters?
- Fighting Money Laundering with the Bank Secrecy Act
- Is it Harder for Women to Save for Retirement?
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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
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
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November 13, 2019
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
