The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provides U.S. agricultural commodities to meet emergency food needs in foreign countries. To expedite delivery to recipient countries, food can be ordered before it is requested and prepositioned in warehouses in or near regions with historically high needs.
Listen to our podcast with Tom Melito, a director in our International Affairs and Trade team, discussing our new report on USAID efforts to preposition food aid.
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.
To learn more, read the full report, issued today, or listen to our podcast with Michelle Sager, a director in our Strategic Issues team, who led our work.
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.
Resources for Federal Agencies on Telework
GAO’s Key Issue Page on Federal Telework: Telework can help recruit and retain a qualified federal workforce, enhance their productivity and flexibility; and reduce real estate, energy, environmental, and other costs. For telework week, check out our key issue page on telework in the federal government.
25 Key Practices: In 2003, we identified 25 key practices for implementing successful federal telework programs, such as establishing measurable telework goals and addressing managerial resistance to telework.
The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010: This act encouraged telework by requiring executive agencies to establish telework policies, incorporate those policies into continuity of operations plans, and provide interactive telework training to employees and managers. In addition, it requires:
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.
We were unable to render an audit opinion—i.e., a conclusion on whether the financial statements are reliable—on the government’s fiscal year 2013 consolidated financial statements. Major impediments that prevented us from rendering an opinion include:
Despite these difficulties, federal financial management has improved significantly since the federal government began preparing consolidated financial statements 17 years ago, following enactment of a series of financial reform legislation beginning with the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990. This year, almost all of the 24 CFO Act agencies received clean audit opinions on their agency financial statements, compared with just 6 of the CFO Act agencies in 1996. In addition, this is the first time that the Department of Homeland Security has received a clean opinion on all of its financial statements.
The government’s annual consolidated financial statements are made available to the public in Treasury’s Financial Report of the U.S. Government. The Financial Report also includes a Citizen’s Guide and other information and analysis of the government’s financial condition. Such reports are essential for public accountability and for efficiency and effectiveness in government.
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