On March 1st, 2013, the president ordered an across-the-board reduction in federal agency budgets. This reduction, more commonly known as sequestration, had a wide range of effects on agency operations and services to the public.
The infographic below outlines some of our key findings about sequestration and its effects.
This winter, snow and ice have brought much of the country to a halt on a number of occasions—including this past Monday in Washington. These storms highlight the opportunity for telework to keep employees working and businesses and governments humming in adverse conditions. Monday’s mid-Atlantic snowstorm coincidentally fell on the first day of this year’s Telework Week, March 3-7. Continue reading
The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, annually consolidates individual agency financial statements to provide a comprehensive overview of the federal government’s finances. GAO is required to audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government; and last week, we issued our report. Continue reading
The number of pilots employed by commercial airlines has declined since 2000, and many stakeholders are concerned about a potential shortage of qualified airline pilots in the near future.
Listen to our podcast with Gerald Dillingham, a director in our Physical Infrastructure team, discussing our new report on pilot availability and how airlines and the government might act to mitigate any potential shortages. Continue reading
The President and Congress use the federal budget process to help allocate federal funds among competing demands. The 2015 President’s Budget (which will be released on March 4th), is
Resources to help you navigate the complexities of the federal budget process Continue reading
As an independent non-partisan agency that serves as the audit and investigative arm of Congress, we examine how taxpayer dollars are spent and advise lawmakers and agency heads on ways to make government work better.
We recently issued a summary of our performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2013, which provides some highlights from the full 148-page report released in December. A few notable points from the report:
GAO’s workforce is organized largely by subject area, with most employees working in 1 of 14 mission teams. Today we’ll be putting the spotlight on the Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) team, which works on issues such as land and water management, environmental protection, food safety, agricultural programs, energy, science, and nuclear security. Continue reading
Each year, we issue hundreds of reports on topics spanning the full breadth and scope of the federal government’s responsibilities. In fiscal year 2013, we issued 709 reports, made 1,430 new recommendations, and testified at 114 congressional hearings. We developed our Key Issues web resource to provide members of Congress, federal agencies, and the American people with an enhanced way to browse, navigate, and explore our work. Continue reading
Even as the heart-shaped Valentine chocolates and witty conversation candy hearts grow stale, there are still a couple of weeks of American Heart Month ahead. We have reported on the ways that preventive health activities—including some for heart health—improve health outcomes or lower health care spending. For example, according to one study we reviewed for our December 2012 report, counseling patients on using a low-dose aspirin regimen is cost-saving, that is, costs less than potential future health care costs to treat coronary heart disease. Continue reading
FDR Presidential Library & Museum
As we have reported, prior to 1940, U.S. presidents kept or passed to their descendants the papers that documented their terms of office. Some of those papers were lost forever. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to arrange to have a library built using private funds, and then to transfer ownership of the library and his papers to the federal government. Through its Office of Presidential Libraries, the National Archives and Records Administration operates presidential libraries housing the papers of all subsequent presidents through George W. Bush, as well as President Roosevelt’s predecessor in the White House, Herbert Hoover. These libraries have millions of visitors each year, all looking for papers, official records, and other materials that document presidential history. Continue reading