A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Identifying the federal grant workforce presents challenges due to differences in how agencies manage grants and the wide range of job series that make up the grant workforce. Some agencies manage grants by using a combination of program specialists (subject-matter experts) and grants management specialists, while other agencies use program specialists to manage the entire grant process. In the four agencies that GAO focused on for this review--the Departments of Education (Education), Health and Human Services (HHS), State (State), and Transportation (DOT)--agency officials identified over 5,100 employees who were significantly involved in managing grants, spanning more than 50 different occupational job series. Recognizing the need for a classification that would more accurately capture the work of federal employees who manage grants, in 2010 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) created the "Grants Management Specialist" job series. However, due to the different ways that agencies manage grants, the extent to which agencies have adopted this series varies widely. More than half of the 22 federal grant-making agencies GAO surveyed make limited or no use of the job series. The Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR), established by …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has reported progress in stemming illegal cross-border activity, but it could strengthen the assessment of its efforts. For example, since fiscal year 2011, DHS has used the number of apprehensions on the southwest border between ports of entry (POE) as an interim measure for border security. GAO reported in December 2012 that apprehensions decreased across the southwest border from fiscal years 2006 through 2011, generally mirroring a decrease in estimated known illegal entries in each southwest border sector. CBP attributed this decrease in part to changes in the U.S. economy and increased resources for border security. Data reported by CBP's Office of Border Patrol (Border Patrol) show that total apprehensions across the southwest border increased from over 327,000 in fiscal year 2011 to about 357,000 in fiscal year 2012. It is too early to assess whether this increase indicates a change in the trend. GAO testified in February 2013 that the number of apprehensions provides information on activity levels but does not inform program results or resource allocation decisions. Border Patrol is in the …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare expenditures for Part B drugs in 2010 were concentrated among relatively few drugs. The 55 highest-expenditure Part B drugs represented $16.9 billion in spending, or about 85 percent of all Medicare spending on Part B drugs, and the 10 highest-expenditure drugs accounted for about 45 percent of all Part B drug spending in 2010. Most of these drugs were under patent and could be purchased only from a single manufacturer. The number of Medicare beneficiaries who used the 55 drugs ranged from over 15 million beneficiaries who received the influenza vaccine to 660 beneficiaries who used a drug that treats hemophilia. The annual per beneficiary cost of the Part B drugs GAO examined also varied widely in 2010, from $13 for influenza vaccine to over $200,000 for factor vii recombinant to treat hemophilia. Spending, utilization, and prices increased for most of the 55 drugs between 2008 and 2010, with the drugs that showed the greatest increases in expenditures also showing the greatest increases in utilization."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Baseline assessment and reassessment data collected by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) since 2004 show that pipeline operators are making repairs in highly populated or frequented areas ("high consequence areas"). For example, from 2004 to 2009, operators made 1,080 immediate repairs. While operators can use assessment data to determine reassessment intervals for specific pipelines, PHMSA's data are aggregated and cannot indicate an appropriate maximum interval for all pipelines nationwide. Such a determination requires, for example, collaboration of subject matter experts and analysis of technical studies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will operate a health insurance exchange in the 34 states that will not operate a state-based exchange for 2014. Of these 34 federally facilitated exchanges (FFE), 15 are in states expected to assist CMS in carrying out certain FFE functions. However, the activities that CMS plans to carry out in these 15 exchanges, as well as in the state-based exchanges, have evolved and may continue to change. For example, CMS approved states' exchange arrangements on the condition that they ultimately complete activities necessary for exchange implementation. CMS indicated that it would carry out more exchange functions if any state did not adequately progress towards implementation of all required activities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has taken some important steps to establish an enduring expeditionary forensic capability by issuing a concept of operations in 2008, followed by a directive in 2011 to establish policy and assign responsibilities. As required by the directive, DOD has drafted a strategic plan to guide the activities of the Defense Forensic Enterprise, including expeditionary forensics. Although the plan includes a mission statement, and goals and objectives--two of the five key elements identified by GAO as integral to a well-developed strategic plan--it does not identify approaches for how goals and objectives will be achieved, milestones and metrics to gauge progress, and resources needed to achieve goals and objectives. GAO's prior work has shown that organizations need a well-developed strategic plan to identify and achieve their goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. Officials in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)) said that they decided to create a concise, high-level strategic plan and that they plan to issue guidance tasking the DOD components to develop individual implementation plans that include milestones. However, approaches, metrics, and resources …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) preliminary cost estimate for its current realignment plan is not reliable, because it is missing costs and is based on limited data. According to DOD officials, DOD has not yet been able to put together a more reliable cost estimate because it will not have specific detailed information on the plan's requirements until the completion of environmental analyses and host nation negotiations. Currently, DOD estimates that it would cost approximately $12.1 billion to implement its realignment plan--not including the Australia segment of the realignment. Still, GAO found that DOD did not include some up-front practices that could have provided a more reliable estimate that are not dependent on the completion of the environmental analyses and host nation negotiations. Specifically, DOD omitted any costs associated with mobility support, a critical component of the implementation, from its cost estimate. Furthermore, although DOD based its cost estimate on several assumptions, there was no evidence DOD conducted analysis needed to determine the reliability of those assumptions. Without a reliable estimate, DOD will not be able to provide Congress and other stakeholders with the information Congress …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The effects of the financial crisis on insurers and policyholders were generally limited, with a few exceptions. While some insurers experienced capital and liquidity pressures in 2008, their capital levels had recovered by the end of 2009. Net income also dropped but recovered somewhat in 2009. Effects on insurers' investments, underwriting performance, and premium revenues were also limited. However, some life insurers that offered variable annuities with guaranteed living benefits, as well as financial and mortgage guaranty insurers, were more affected by their exposures to the distressed equity and mortgage markets. The crisis had a generally minor effect on policyholders, but some mortgage and financial guaranty policyholders--banks and other commercial entities--received partial claims or faced decreased availability of coverage."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since GAO reported on competition in 2005, competition among video content producers is little changed, while competition among distributors has increased. According to data cited by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), seven companies' broadcast and cable networks accounted for about 95 percent of all television viewing hours in the United States. Further, ownership of broadcast and cable networks changed little from 2005 through 2012. Alternatively, the introduction of video service provided by telephone companies, such as Verizon's FiOS service, has brought additional competition to video distribution. At year-end 2010, roughly 1 in 3 households could choose among 4 or more subscription video distributors: typically a cable company, 2 satellite companies, and a telephone company. With technological advances, companies are increasingly distributing video online. Online video distributors (OVD) are developing a variety of business models, including free and subscription-based services. However, online viewing and revenues represent a small portion of overall media viewing hours and revenue."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has identified a number of issues related to information technology (IT) duplication across the federal government. For example, GAO has previously reported that hundreds of investments provide similar functions. Specifically, agencies reported 1,536 information and technology management investments, 777 supply chain management investments, and 622 human resource management investments."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust review will be a critical step in the proposed merger between American Airlines (American) and US Airways. DOJ uses an integrated analytical framework set forth in the Horizontal Merger Guidelines to determine whether the merger poses any antitrust concerns. Under that process, DOJ assesses, among other things, the extent of likely anticompetitive effects of the proposed merger in the relevant markets, in this case, airline city-pair markets, and the likelihood that other airlines may enter these markets and counteract any anticompetitive effects, such as higher fares. DOJ also considers efficiencies that a merger or acquisition could bring--for example, consumer benefits from an expanded route network. The Department of Transportation (DOT) aids DOJ's analysis."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Thirteen of the 16 state transportation agencies GAO contacted used Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) to select the pavement type (e.g., asphalt or concrete) for certain road construction and rehabilitation projects. Officials in all 13 states indicated that LCCA helped ensure that the agency selected the pavement that was most cost-effective over the long term, but states' specific LCCA practices varied. In general, these states used LCCA for larger projects, but each state had unique criteria to determine which projects should be subject to an LCCA. Likewise, the broad categories of LCCA inputs--such as agency costs, timing of future road work, and discount rate--are similar, but state transportation agencies handled each of these inputs in different ways. For example, estimates of when future roadwork would occur for a particular pavement type were based on state-specific factors, such as past experience with pavements and climate. Furthermore, state agencies used different criteria to decide if LCCA results clearly indicated a pavement type with the lowest life-cycle cost. In 9 of the 13 states that used LCCA, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) LCCA guidance was an important influence on state …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, GAO found that SSA struggles to effectively administer its Representative Payee Program, despite steps the agency has taken to address its challenges in identifying, selecting, and monitoring representative payees. SSA field office managers in some offices said that due to increasing workloads and staff attrition they sometimes have to perform payee program duties that lower-level staff typically handle. SSA is also encountering increasing numbers of beneficiaries who may not have a suitable payee readily available. In an effort to address this challenge, SSA hosted a webinar to recruit additional payees. However, agency officials said this effort did not produce any new payees. SSA also faces challenges ensuring that payees who are selected are suitable for the task. In response, SSA has implemented a pilot program in its Philadelphia region to screen and bar payee applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes such as robbery and fraud to obtain governmental assistance. SSA said the focus of the pilot is to determine how easily these additional controls can be implemented. GAO also found that SSA faces challenges monitoring payees' use of beneficiaries' SSA funds--a time-consuming process. SSA …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While each agency's suspension and debarment program that GAO reviewed in 2011 was unique, agencies with the most suspension and debarment activity shared certain characteristics. These included a dedicated suspension and debarment program and staff, detailed policies and procedures, and practices that encouraged an active referral process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) management and operating (M&O) contractors differ in how they classify and allocate indirect costs at NNSA laboratories. Although different approaches are allowed by Cost Accounting Standards, these differences limit the ability to compare program costs across the laboratories. Recognizing the limitations of its current cost data, the Department of Energy (DOE) and NNSA are implementing the Institutional Cost Reporting initiative intended to create a standardized report of certain costs, including many indirect costs. However, DOE is uncertain how it will use the data gathered by this initiative, and these efforts may provide only limited improvements because the data will continue to only be reported at an aggregate level."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) uses a multistep process to build overhead costs into projects. At the foundation of this process, Corps policy establishes two categories of costs to calculate overhead--general and administrative overhead expenses associated with district administrative offices, such as resource management, and technical overhead expenses associated with district technical offices, such as engineering. Using these two categories as a starting point, the Corps next calculates overhead rates as part of its annual budget process. Specifically, each district administrative and technical office develops operating budgets with overhead estimates, which are then consolidated and routed through district and division management, resulting in a final division-wide operating budget and overhead rates. The Corps then bills projects for overhead costs based on the number of hours its staff charge to projects. Overhead charges are not applied to hours worked by contracted labor, which represent a substantial amount of work. The Corps reports that it contracts out most of its design work and all of its construction work to private sector entities, such as architectural and engineering firms and construction companies. Finally, the Corps periodically monitors …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "School districts faced several challenges implementing the new lunch requirements in school year 2012-2013, according to the eight districts GAO visited and food service and industry officials GAO interviewed from across the country; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) response to some of these challenges has been limited. For example, because USDA regulations restrict the amounts of meats and grains that can be served in school lunches each week, all eight districts GAO visited needed to modify or eliminate popular menu items. These changes sometimes led to negative student reactions. The meat and grain restrictions also led to smaller lunch entrees, making it difficult for some schools to meet minimum calorie requirements for lunches without adding items, such as gelatin, that generally do not improve the nutritional quality of lunches. In response to feedback from states and districts regarding operational challenges caused by the meat and grain restrictions, USDA lifted the limits temporarily, first for the remainder of school year 2012-2013 and then for school year 2013-2014. USDA officials said they did not see a problem making the temporary changes to help with implementation because the limits …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reducing the cap to the President's salary ($400,000) or the Vice President's salary ($230,700) would have substantially increased the number of employees with compensation costs exceeding the cap in 2010-2012."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "There has been limited improvement in bridge conditions in the past decade, but a substantial number of bridges remain in poor condition. Of the 607,380 bridges on the nation's roadways in 2012, 1 in 4 was classified as deficient. Some are structurally deficient and have one or more components in poor condition and others are functionally obsolete and may no longer be adequate for the traffic they serve. Data indicate that the number of deficient bridges has decreased since 2002 even as the number of bridges has increased. The impact of the federal investment in bridges is difficult to measure. For example, while Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks a portion of bridge spending on a state-by-state basis, the data do not include state and local spending, thus making it difficult to determine the federal contribution to overall expenditures. Understanding the impact of federal investment in bridges is important in determining how to invest future federal resources."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken initial steps toward applying key project management practices in the areas of project planning, requirements management, and acquisition planning for its Federal Housing Administration Transformation (FHA Transformation) Initiative to address performance gaps in housing insurance programs and its Next Generation Management System (NGMS) to improve management of its affordable housing programs. However, HUD has not yet fully implemented any of these practices in executing and managing the information technology (IT) projects associated with these efforts. Specifically, while the department had developed project management artifacts such as charters and requirements management plans, none of these documents included all of the key details that could facilitate effective management of its projects such as full descriptions of the work necessary to complete the projects, cost and schedule baselines, or prioritized requirements, among other things. Department officials attributed these deficiencies to a lack of project management expertise."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In a governmentwide survey, GAO found that most federal managers lack recentevaluations of their programs. Thirty-seven percent reported that an evaluation had been completed within the past 5 years of any program, operation, or project they were involved in. Another 40 percent of managers reported that they did not know if an evaluation had been completed. However, 80 percent of managers who did have evaluations reported that those evaluations contributed to a moderate or greater extent to improving program management or performance and to assessing program effectiveness or value. Fewer reported that evaluations contributed moderately or more to allocating resources within a program (67 percent) or streamlining programs (61 percent)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) performance in selling its foreclosed properties--known as real estate-owned (REO) properties--lagged the performance of both of the government-sponsored enterprises (enterprises), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHA disposed of more than 400,000 properties from January 2007 through June 2012. Its combined 2007-2012 returns, measured by the net execution rate (net sales proceeds divided by independently assessed property values) were about 4 to 6 percentage points below the enterprises' returns. After controlling for certain differences in their properties' characteristics (e.g., value, location, and local market conditions), differences in combined returns between FHA and the enterprises persisted at an estimated 2 to 5 percentage points."