Federal Government Policy and Business

Congress Has a Worse Track Record on Following Advice to Cut Waste Than Agencies Themselves

Government Executive: Federal agencies are making progress on addressing the duplication and overlap identified by independent auditors, but more than half of the total recommendations made since 2011 have not been fully addressed.

Lawmakers during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday deplored agencies for failing to deal with the wasteful spending as identified by the Government Accountability Office, singling out the Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Defense Department. While agencies have saved $56 billion since 2011 by rooting out the waste GAO has highlighted -- and will reach an additional $69 billion in savings by 2025 through those actions already taken -- hundreds of GAO’s recommendations remain unaddressed.

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