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VA Caregiver Program Needs Stronger Mental Health Outreach Goals

GAO audited VA's Caregiver Support Program (serving ~98,000 caregivers with $2.6B obligated in FY2025) and found that VHA lacks quantitative targets for 3 of 4 outreach goals and has not established goals or collected data for non-telehealth mental health services. GAO recommends VHA set measurable targets with time frames for outreach goals and establish goals and collect data for all mental health services to better assess program effectiveness in supporting caregiver wellbeing.

GAO Finds Federal Agencies Noncompliant with Congressional Review Act 60-Day Delay

GAO examined agencies' implementation of the Congressional Review Act's 60-day delay for major rules. From January 2021 to January 2025, agencies published effective dates inconsistent with the CRA's 60-day waiting period for approximately 119 of 462 major rules (about 25%). Officials from four agencies cited uncertainty about what constitutes the date Congress receives rule copies. GAO recommended amending the CRA to specify receipt conditions and that agencies routinely allow additional time beyond publication date.

FY2027 Budget Request $860M, 3,210 FTEs, Five Priorities

GAO Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations regarding GAO's FY2027 budget request of $860 million in appropriated dollars plus $50 million in offsetting receipts. The request supports 3,210 full-time equivalents, a reduction of 4.2 percent from FY2026. GAO's FY2025 work yielded $62.7 billion in financial benefits for the federal government.

Federal Fraud Costs Estimated at $233-$521B Annually

GAO testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations regarding fraud risk management in federally funded, state-administered programs. GAO estimated total direct annual financial losses to the government from fraud at between $233 billion and $521 billion, based on fiscal year 2018 through 2022 data. The estimate captures losses at state, local, tribal, or other government levels that involved federal investigative, administrative, or related action. In fiscal year 2025, the federal government provided an estimated $1.2 trillion in grants to state and local governments.

VA Behavioral Health Referrals: 600K Community Care Referrals, $4.29B Spending, FY2021-2024

GAO report GAO-26-108799 examines VA behavioral health referrals to community providers for fiscal years 2021 through 2024. Veterans received over 600,000 referrals, with more than half for outpatient psychotherapy. VA spent $4.29 billion on community care through these referrals, with over two-thirds of spending on inpatient care including residential treatment. About 4 percent of referrals (over 25,000) and 43 percent of spending ($1.9 billion) were for residential substance use treatment.

FAA Should Improve Airport Financial Data Quality and Tracking

GAO reviewed FAA's Certification Activity Tracking System (CATS), the centralized database for airport financial data. Most of the approximately 500 required airports submitted fiscal year 2023 data, but FAA lacks sufficient data controls to verify timeliness and accuracy. CATS has anomalies and potential errors, and the system makes it difficult to track reporting deadlines. GAO made three recommendations to FAA to improve data quality controls, consistently identify newly required airports, and communicate data limitations to users.

Navy Financial Management Systems Modernization Audit Assessment

The Government Accountability Office assessed the Department of the Navy's financial management systems modernization initiative. The Navy has terminated at least 11 legacy systems, saved over $100 million, and completed migration to its Navy Enterprise Resource Planning system. However, GAO found the Navy only partially implemented leading practices for strategic and performance measurement, and partially met three of four leading practices for migration planning.

Navy Sea Systems Command Labor Cost Management

GAO reviewed how the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) manages labor costs for professional support services acquired through its SeaPort contract, which totaled approximately $21 billion over fiscal years 2019 through 2024. GAO found that NAVSEA uses a "best value tradeoff" process for awarding task orders and has established a "tripwire" threshold that triggers enhanced oversight when actual labor rates exceed estimated rates by 15 percent. More than a quarter of ongoing task orders reviewed (106 of 389) triggered this tripwire review. Across 10 task orders reviewed in detail, actual labor costs increased by approximately $152 million (about 60 percent above estimates), driven by requirement changes and the need for higher-priced labor categories.

COFFA Addresses Federal Grants Management Challenges Across Agencies

GAO issued a report examining the Council on Federal Financial Assistance (COFFA), established by OMB in August 2023 to improve coordination in federal grants management. In fiscal year 2024, COFFA represented 38 of 40 federal grantmaking agencies and coordinated over $1.2 trillion in federal grant funding. The report describes how member agencies communicate and collaborate through designated Senior Financial Assistance Officers to improve consistency in interpreting and implementing grant guidance.

Most Recipients Keep Federally Funded Inventions, Face Reporting Challenges

The GAO found that funding recipients retained ownership of federally funded inventions in about 79% of cases from FY2020-2024, with the most common reason for declining being low commercial potential. Recipients reported challenges including inconsistent requirements across agencies, time-consuming annual reporting, and delays with deadline extension requests. NIST published an optional sample form in March 2026 to improve disclosure consistency.