Apr 28, 2025

Apr 28, 2025

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on April 9, 2025

Medical providers at the VA can refer veterans to behavioral health providers outside VA for treatment of conditions like depression. These providers should send medical records back to VA after caring for a veteran. Such exchanges help ensure that a veteran receives coordinated care. We found that VA doesn't monitor whether these records are sent back, and a significant portion of the medical records were...

Nonprofit Drug Companies:
Information on Funding, Drug Types, Challenges, and Reported Effect
GAO-25-107153
Published: May 1, 2025 . Publicly Released: May 1, 2025 .
Nonprofit drug companies in the U.S. aim to lower drug prices or ease shortages. They are supported by donations and revenue from sales and set their prices at a level to cover their expenses. Three of the 7 companies we reviewed currently have products on the market, including surgical injections and a nasal spray to reverse drug overdoses. One uses long-term purchasing contracts with hospitals...

Published: May 1, 2025 . Publicly Released: May 1, 2025 .

Federal Civilian Firefighters:
DOD Should Take Action to Address Long-Standing Staffing Gaps
GAO-25-107288Published: Apr 30, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2025 .
Department of Defense civilian firefighters are a first line of defense when catastrophes threaten DOD installations. But DOD has experienced long-standing staffing issues within this workforce. From FY 2019-2023, DOD employed fewer civilian firefighters than authorized—i.e., below the minimum staffing level required for safe operations. DOD identified causes of its staffing gaps, such as competition from local fire departments that may offer better pay and...

When enforcing regulations, federal agencies use fines to hold violators accountable and to deter future violations. But if agencies don't regularly adjust these fines for inflation, they may become less effective. Congress enacted the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 partly to address this issue. In 2015, Congress amended the act to require GAO to annually review agencies' compliance with certain provisions. We...

Each year, we audit the Federal Housing Finance Agency's financial statements. During our 2024 audit, we found that FHFA doesn't have sufficient guidance to determine and review its accounts payable accruals—expenses incurred but not yet paid. Also, FHFA lacks guidance for communicating between its accounting office and business units. This guidance is necessary to ensure that the accounting office has the information it needs to...

Smart Cities:
Technologies and Policy Options to Enhance Services and Transparency
GAO-25-107019Published: Apr 30, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2025 .Cities across the nation are using "smart city" technologies like traffic cameras and gunshot detectors to improve public services. In this technology assessment, we looked at their use in transportation and law enforcement. Experts and city officials reported multiple benefits. For example, Houston uses cameras and Bluetooth sensors to measure traffic flow and adjust signal timing. Other cities use license plate readers to find stolen...

Disasters like hurricanes and oil spills can affect fisheries and communities and may result in lost revenue or jobs. When a fishery disaster occurs, eligible entities such as states or Tribes may request assistance from the National Marine Fisheries Service. We found the agency generally took 3 years to disburse funds for some of the 111 requests it received since 2014. The agency is altering...

Research on the human genome—the complete set of a person's DNA—has led to better health care and has many potential benefits. The Department of Health and Human Services has led key research, including a project to create a repository of the genomes of 1 million Americans. Its policy is to responsibly share such data with researchers. But intelligence agencies warn that misuse of U.S. genomic...

Federal employees work across the country—and may make different salaries than their local nonfederal counterparts. To help align federal workers' salaries with their local areas, Congress authorized an annual "locality pay adjustment" starting in 1994. In 2023, 60% of federal employees received a locality pay increase. Even with adjustments over the years, a pay gap persists. Changing how the gap is calculated could make it...

Infrastructure Grants:
Status of Funding to Tribes, States, Localities, and Territories as of December 31, 2024
GAO-25-107243
Published: Apr 29, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 29, 2025 .The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act made $711.8 billion available for grants to Tribes, states, localities, and territories. The grants are intended to support transportation, clean energy and power, broadband, and other infrastructure projects. Fifteen federal agencies reported they got funds to award to Tribes, states, localities, and territories. The Department of Transportation got 74% of these funds. Agencies can't use some of the grant...

Cyberattacks on state and local IT systems—like school computing networks and locally owned utilities—are on the rise. A grant program from the Department of Homeland Security provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to address cybersecurity risks. We looked at how these governments plan to use their portions of the $172 million in grant money. Their projects include upgrading computer equipment, engaging cybersecurity...

Published: Apr 28, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 29, 2025 .

Inflation Reduction Act:
Opportunities Exist to Help Ensure GSA Programs Achieve Intended Results
GAO-25-107349Published: Apr 29, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 29, 2025 .The General Services Administration owns more than 1,500 buildings that have been identified as a major source of the federal government's greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water use. GSA developed criteria to select projects that would use federal funds received in 2022 to reduce the environmental impacts of those buildings. But it didn't develop a framework for spending some of that $3.4 billion in...

As trade, communication, and infrastructure grow more dependent on cyberspace and digital technology, the nation has new opportunities but also faces more foreign cyber threats. The Department of State created the Bureau of Cybersecurity and Digital Policy to advance U.S. interests in cyberspace. We testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe about the evolution of State's cyber efforts and our prior work on...

Federal law lets some employers pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage. Some states stopped allowing this. We looked at 2 states to find out what happened next. The states could track what happened to about 1,000 people. Almost half got new jobs. This is an "Easy Read" version of our report. Easy Read is a way some groups make their written information easier...

We also published an " Easy Read" version of this report. Easy Read is a way of making written information easier to understand. We published the Easy Read version to make our report more accessible to certain people with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Employers that hold a certificate from the Department of Labor can pay people with disabilities less than the federal...

DOD's financial management and business systems modernization has been on our High Risk List since 1995. We testified that, while DOD has taken steps to address this issue, it needs to do more in areas like action plans and demonstrating results. Additionally, the full extent of fraud affecting DOD is unknown, so we've expanded this High Risk area to include fraud risk management. Finally, DOD...

VA Nursing Home Care:
Opportunities Remain to Enhance Oversight of State Veterans Homes
GAO-25-108441Published: Apr 29, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 29, 2025 .
Many veterans rely on nursing home care to help meet their health needs. In FY 2023, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid about $1.5 billion for veteran nursing home care provided in state veterans homes. VA provides funding and inspects these homes to ensure compliance with VA quality standards. We made 4 recommendations in our November 2022 report to help VA oversee these homes. We...

Army Corps of Engineers:
Commercial Fishing Data Could Help Inform Budget ProcessGAO-25-107447Published: Apr 28, 2025 . Publicly Released: Apr 28, 2025 .The Army Corps of Engineers maintains harbors and channels that people use to transport commercial goods and fish caught offshore. The Corps collects data about the tons of goods and the pounds of fish traveling through these ports. It prioritizes funding for maintenance and construction projects based on the tons of goods that pass through. However, the Corps does not include the commercial fishing data...