With billions of taxpayer dollars spent on low-priority and questionable projects, 2008 was a banner year for wasteful Washington spending. 2008: The Worst Waste of the Year highlights more than $1 billion in taxpayer funding that Washington bureaucrats and politicians wasted on more than 60 … Read more about 2008: Worst Waste of the Year
CDC Off Center
“CDC Off Center” is a 115-page oversight report examining how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tilted off center. The report makes recommendations about how the CDC might get back on track. The American people expect CDC to spend its $10 billion budget treating and preventing … Read more about CDC Off Center
GAO: Changes Made to Market Access Program, but Questions Remain on Economic Impact
FAS estimates that the cumulative effect of MAP expenditures since 1986 is $5 billion of additional agricultural exports in 1997 which, in turn, FAS says generate 86,500 jobs and $12 billion in additional economic activity.23 This estimate is based on the projected impact of $1.25 billion (1997 … Read more about GAO: Changes Made to Market Access Program, but Questions Remain on Economic Impact
OIG: Pension Costs on DOD Contracts: Additional Guidance Needed to Ensure Costs Are Consistent and Reasonable
DOD contractors are among the largest sponsors of defined benefit pension plans in the United States and factor pension costs into the price of DOD contracts. Since the 2008 market downturn, these pension costs have grown--thereby increasing DOD contract costs--and recent changes in … Read more about OIG: Pension Costs on DOD Contracts: Additional Guidance Needed to Ensure Costs Are Consistent and Reasonable
DOJ OIG: Audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Use of Income-Genrating, Undercover Operations
In 2004, ATF was granted the same authority previously provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to use proceeds generated from these undercover operations to offset necessary and reasonable operational expenses related to the same … Read more about DOJ OIG: Audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Use of Income-Genrating, Undercover Operations
GAO: Actions Needed to Address Five Key Mission Challenges
The Department of Defense (DOD) faces five key challenges that significantly affect the department's ability to accomplish its mission. These include the need to (1) rebalance forces and rebuild readiness; (2) mitigate threats to cyberspace and expand cyber capabilities; (3) control the escalating … Read more about GAO: Actions Needed to Address Five Key Mission Challenges
Actions Needed to Better Measure and Address Retailer Trafficking
Despite efforts by the USDA to crack down on it, retailer trafficking - the practice of selling SNAP benefits (food stamps) for cash - continues at a rate of at least $1 billion per year. The practice occurs when stores sell the SNAP benefit holders cash instead of food. An example of a transaction … Read more about Actions Needed to Better Measure and Address Retailer Trafficking
DHS OIG: PALMS Does Not Address Department Needs
The Department of Homeland Security remains on the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) high-risk list for management of its human capital and integration. In 2013, DHS entered into an agreement to provide the Department with a … Read more about DHS OIG: PALMS Does Not Address Department Needs