As the U.S. national debt ticks closer to $35 trillion, this year'sThis report is a critical service to the Congress. We appreciate it," said Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md.
"Even when federal agencies strive for excellence there’s always room for improvement," acknowledged Rep. Pete SessionsR-Texas. "We will continue this conversation today and we’ll find out how we can get better." For example, the GAO found different military branches conduct the same or very similar research projects but don't share their findings or resources with one another. Coordination would cut down on costs and improve efficiency.Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars could be saved through better use of government properties.
The federal government owns a lot of real estate and it isn’t necessarily using that very effectively. So we made recommendations that there be benchmarks to help agencies understand how much space they need, especially now that you have so many people working remotely," explained Jessica Lucas Judy, the director of strategic issues at GAO.
In the past 14 years, the GAO has made about 2,000 recommendations. Two-thirds of those have been fully implemented saving the U.S. $667 billion.