Every two years the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issues a report to Congress regarding the federal government’s most “high-risk” areas in terms of fraud, waste, mismanagement and general inefficiency. This year’s list includes 30 issues. The really bad news is that six of the areas have been on the list continuously, unsolved, since the first report was issued in 1990. These recalcitrant problem areas are: Medicare, enforcement of tax laws, NASA acquisition management, Department of Defense weapons systems acquisition, Department of Defense supply chain management, and the Department of Energy’s contract management for the National Nuclear Security Administration and Office of Environmental Management. Eight of the 30 problem areas have to do with the Department of Defense. Three areas were added this year and they are unlikely to come as a shock. They are: modernizing the outdated U.S. financial regulatory system, transforming the Environmental Protection Agency’s processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals, and protecting public health through enhanced oversight of medical products. The good news is that the GAO removed one area from the list: the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control modernization project.

 

GAO’s “High Risk” List Comings and Goings (by Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post)

GAO Adds Three Items to High-Risk List, Removes Air Traffic Control Project (by Elizabeth Newell, Government Executive)

GAO’s New “High Risk” List a Kick in the Government’s Pants (by Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post)

High-Risk Series: An Update (Government Accountability Office)