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Most 401(k)s Do Not Require Spousal Consent for Withdrawals
GAO found about one in 10 married households with a 401(k)-type account removed funds in 2021, while broader consent rules could add cost and delay.
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U.S. Government Accountability Office
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Coast Guard Reported $448 Million in Cleanup Liabilities, GAO Says
Auditors said the service has not told Congress about potential additional costs, including PFAS exposure that could add hundreds of millions of dollars.
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DHS Acquisition Portfolio Tops $55 Billion as Oversight Shifts
GAO found $11.4 billion in baseline cost growth, major staffing losses at eight programs and an oversight office dissolved before part of it returned.
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DOE Cleanup Task Orders Added More Than $500 Million in Costs, GAO Says
Auditors found inconsistent end-state definitions, weak headquarters oversight and post-award changes across the Energy Department's nuclear cleanup contracting model.
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DOJ task-force officers could serve warrants before federal training, GAO finds
ATF permitted up to two years, DEA expected training within one year and the FBI allowed six months after deputized state and local officers began operations. All four reviewed agencies also lacked uniform rules for handling misconduct allegations.
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Education Department Has 10 Priority GAO Items Open
Federal auditors elevated student-aid modernization, sensitive-data protection and charter-school management financial risk after only one earlier priority item was completed.
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Federal Cyber Rotation Program Drew 634 Applicants—and Approved Eight
GAO says the Office of Personnel Management effectively suspended the cross-agency program after limited participation and no new postings in 2025.
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GAO Counts 277 Open Recommendations for Congress
Fifty-three open matters could produce financial benefits, GAO says, including 13 with at least $1 billion in potential savings each.
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Four Agencies Lack Required Lessons-Learned Systems for AI Purchases, GAO Says
GAO reviewed 13 acquisitions and found that Defense, DHS, GSA and Veterans Affairs did not systematically collect lessons that could improve future contract terms, testing and pricing.
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AI Medical Notes and Coding Are Spreading Faster Than Independent Accuracy Evidence
GAO says clinician use climbed from 21% to 28% in two years, while privacy, billing and health-spending effects remain unsettled.
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GAO Says AI-Written Tax Comments Could Overwhelm Treasury Review
The audit covers 467 proposed and final regulations and finds no policy for mass AI-assisted submissions, limited virtual hearings and gaps in documenting public input.
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GAO Says Bank Regulators Cannot Show Their Decennial Rule Reviews Work
The Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC lack documented procedures and cannot clearly connect long-cycle paperwork reviews to later regulatory changes, the watchdog found.
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Battery Recycling Could Cut Critical-Mineral Import Reliance in 2–3 Years
GAO sees a near-term opening for copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel recovery, while semiconductor substitutes and e-waste processing remain years behind.
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DOE Lacks a Systematic Plan for Critical Isotope Shortages
GAO says the federal isotope program made 7,700 shipments but still relies on manual market tracking and lacks timely risk-mitigation plans.
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GAO Says DOE Nuclear Cleanup Plans Often Pick a Solution Too Early
A review of 21 large-project mission statements found the majority named a preferred approach before a full comparison of alternatives.
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GAO’s Education Priority List Grew From 8 to 10
The federal watchdog added three priority items after the department implemented one, sharpening its focus on student aid, data privacy and charter-school financial risk.
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GAO Says 100-Program Broadband Push Still Lacks a National Strategy
The watchdog says coordination and National Broadband Map data-quality recommendations also remain incomplete as agencies steer tens of billions of dollars.
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GAO Finds Open Federal Efficiency Actions Could Save $100 Billion
The watchdog’s 16-year scorecard credits past congressional and agency action with $774.3 billion in benefits while tracking 610 unfinished items.
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GAO Sets a Three-Step Test for Whether Federal Programs Work
The watchdog says agencies need measurable goals, relevant data and routine use of results to judge programs that collectively spend trillions of dollars each year.
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GAO: Federal Programs Often Lack Evidence That They Work
The watchdog says managers too often track spending and service counts without clear goals, outcome data or evaluations that can isolate a program’s effect.
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GAO Updates Federal Training Guide Around a Four-Part Evaluation Cycle
The first overhaul since 2004 adds blended learning, coaching, mentoring and new technology while keeping agency mission outcomes at the center.
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GAO Says Disaster Plans Need Infant Supplies and Private Shelter Space
A federal review found that formula, diapers, nursing areas, medical transport and family evacuation plans can fail when emergency logistics treat every survivor’s needs as interchangeable.
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GAO Says Financial Regulators Are Still Building Joint Data Standards
The Financial Data Transparency Act could reduce duplicate reporting, but agencies must first finish shared standards, modernize systems and write their own implementation rules.
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Can DNA Prove Where Imported Seafood Came From? GAO Says the Tools Have Limits
Digital tracking and laboratory tests can expose origin fraud, but thin reference libraries, processing and cost still restrict enforcement.
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GAO Sets Four-Pillar Test for U.S. AI Standing
The method asks analysts to assess science and technology, human capital, governance and the economy before ranking the United States against peers.
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GAO Flags 11 Priority Recommendations Still Open at GSA
The watchdog says real-property planning, shared-service data and federal-award oversight could unlock tens of millions in savings and improve controls over hundreds of millions in annual spending.
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GAO Says ACA Marketplace Needs Stronger Controls Against Unauthorized Plan Changes
The watchdog found weak consent checks, broad record access and incomplete notices as complaints tied to confirmed unauthorized changes rose more than fourfold.
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Nearly One-Third of Immigration Hearings Were Remote in 2025
GAO says video and telephone proceedings reduced time and cost for selected court participants, though judge preferences and interpretation technology remained uneven.
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GAO Reports $24.3 Billion in Estimated Improper Payments
VA Community Care and Medicare Advantage reported improper-payment estimates of $608 million and $23.7 billion for fiscal 2025; GAO says both lack comprehensive fraud-risk assessments.
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GAO finds 22 legal-fee awards at Labor Department and NLRB, none at EEOC
The two agencies reported nearly $1 million in Equal Access to Justice Act awards from fiscal years 2019 through 2025.
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DOE Has Not Fully Used Overseas Nuclear-Cleanup Lessons, GAO Says
Auditors said British and Canadian approaches cut costs or decades from cleanup schedules while U.S. headquarters mostly treated international work as a teaching mission.
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Older Workers Found Jobs Less Often After Federal Training Programs, GAO Says
People 55 and older were 22% of participants in six programs, but their post-exit employment rates trailed younger groups.
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GAO Leaves OPM With Eight Priority Recommendations for 2026
The watchdog says stronger eligibility checks could prevent up to $1 billion a year in health-benefit improper payments, alongside IT and workforce reforms.
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OPM Lost 35% of Its Workforce in 15 Months, GAO Found
More than half of departing employees had at least 11 years of service. The watchdog says missing agency records prevent a complete assessment of the reorganization.
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Orion Drives Most of NASA’s $4.7 Billion in Major-Project Cost Growth
GAO’s 36-project assessment finds nearly 14 years of cumulative delay, with the crew capsule responsible for almost three-quarters of cumulative overruns.
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GAO Finds Overlapping Reporting Duties in 80 Cybersecurity Regulations
The watchdog identified 117 rules from 37 agencies across nine critical-infrastructure sectors and said roughly 70% shared a reporting type with another rule.
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Pentagon’s New 2028 Audit Strategy Leaves Key Risks Unresolved
GAO says centralized testing of material balances may advance a clean opinion, but DOD would defer some internal-control fixes for at least two years.
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GAO Projects Public Debt at 123% of GDP by 2036
Debt held by the public reached about $31.3 trillion in April, while net interest exceeded national-defense spending in fiscal 2025.
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GAO Finds Revoked TWIC Cards Can Still Create Port-Access Risk
Federal auditors found a gap between card cancellation and frontline verification, alongside 888 deficiencies and 83 violations recorded over six fiscal years.
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GAO Finds Covered Telecom Equipment at Two Agencies
Defense reported three connected instances and blocked external access while six agencies used several methods to search their networks and inventories.
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GAO Finds Fraud-Risk Assessment Gaps in 15 Major Federal Programs
Only five of 20 large federally funded, state-administered programs had documented evidence consistent with identifying and prioritizing fraud risks, the watchdog said.
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State Reported Nearly One-Third of International Commitments Late, GAO Finds
GAO reviewed 311 commitments and found recurring delays, fragmented public access and incomplete procedures under the amended Case-Zablocki Act.
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GAO Leaves Treasury With 28 Priority Recommendations for 2026
Treasury closed four priority items since August 2025, but auditors still flag improper payments, cybersecurity and federal financial management.
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USAspending Data Gaps Persist Across $7 Trillion in Federal Outlays
GAO says other-transaction agreements are reported inconsistently and subaward records still have completeness and accuracy problems.
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GAO Says 15 VA Disability-Program Recommendations Remain Open
VA is exploring AI for claims processing after a long-running system modernization lacked response-time and user-satisfaction goals, the congressional watchdog says.
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Pentagon Weapon Programs Now Average More Than 12 Years to Deliver
GAO’s annual review finds that programs on the five-year rapid pathway often begin with immature technology, while major milestones continue to slip.
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GAO Flags Missing Goals for $125 Million in Wildlife Resilience Work
The Fish and Wildlife Service has restored thousands of acres, but auditors say it cannot yet measure whether nine projects meet their broader resilience objectives.
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$33.6 Billion in Infrastructure Awards Still Await Decisions
GAO says four agencies approved about 9,500 awards after review, canceled roughly 800 worth $17.8 billion and left more than 2,500 pending.
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251 Main Street Loans Remained Past Maturity
GAO found the Federal Reserve program still held 251 loans beyond their initial maturity dates as of Jan. 5, 2026.
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Moab Uranium Cleanup Cost Is Expected to Reach $1.16 Billion
GAO says the Energy Department has removed more than 16 million tons of waste and plans to finish the Utah project by 2029.
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NTSB Contract Spending Reached $86 Million as IT Work Expanded
GAO found 84% of fiscal 2020–2024 contract obligations were competitively awarded, while competitive spending nearly doubled to almost $20 million a year.
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More Students With Disabilities Learn in General Classrooms
The national count rose 25% over 11 school years, but GAO found wide state and district differences in how much time students spend with peers without disabilities.
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GAO Finds Fraud-Control Gaps Across $1.1 Trillion in State-Run Programs
Only five of 20 large federally funded programs documented the risk identification and prioritization GAO looked for, while 22 related recommendations remain open.
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State’s Overseas Housing Standards Have Not Changed in 35 Years
GAO says the department may be paying for larger homes than necessary because its space limits and measurement method no longer match the Washington-area benchmark.
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Federal IT Fund Has Realized $13.5 Million in Savings So Far
GAO says $1.03 billion went to 68 modernization projects, while nearly all projected savings are scheduled for fiscal 2027 or later.