LegiStorm

Summary:
What GAO Found

In fiscal year 2023, GAO's work yielded $70.4 billion in financial benefits, a return of about $84 for every dollar invested in GAO. Our average return on investment for the past 6 years is $133 to $1. In 2023 we also identified 1,220 other benefits that led to improved services to the American people, strengthened public safety, and spurred improvements across the government. GAO's High Risk Series this past year resulted in $32.9 billion in financial benefits and 468 program and operational improvements. GAO is also helping advance agencies' efforts and related Congressional oversight to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud, waste, and abuse. For instance, in FY 2023 we estimated that the amount of unemployment insurance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic was likely between $100 billion and $135 billion.

For our fiscal year 2025 budget, GAO is requesting $916.0 million in appropriated funds and $59.8 million in offsets and supplemental appropriations. This will maintain 3,600 full-time equivalents (FTE). These resources will enable GAO to continue to meet the priority needs of the Congress including five key areas of importance to the nation and Congress:

National Security Enterprise. GAO evaluates an array of national security efforts in areas such as military readiness, space programs, and the U.S. nuclear complex.
Fraud Prevention. We examine government efforts to safeguard programs from fraud by focusing agencies more on prevention.
Science and Technology. GAO's growing portfolio of ongoing and future work includes many aspects of artificial intelligence, medical research and applications, critical minerals recovery, and quantum computing.
Cybersecurity. GAO assesses the development and execution of a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy, the cybersecurity of 16 critical infrastructure sectors across the U.S., and the security of federal information systems.
Health Care Costs. GAO examines the sustainability and integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, Veterans Affairs, DOD, and Indian Health Service health care services.
Our fiscal year 2025 budget request also supports GAO's IT modernization and space optimization efforts. We will transition processes to Cloud Services and enhance cybersecurity. This will allow GAO to grow in agility and better engage IT Modernization strategies. In addition, we will advance space optimization projects to increase leasable space in headquarters and decrease leased space in the field. We will also continue addressing a maintenance backlog at the headquarters building.

Why GAO Did This Study

GAO’s mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. We provide nonpartisan, objective, professional and reliable information to Congress, federal agencies, and to the public. GAO recommends hundreds of improvements across the full breadth and scope of the federal government’s responsibilities.

In fiscal year 2023 alone, GAO issued 671 products, and 1,345 new recommendations. Congress used our work extensively to inform its decisions on key fiscal year 2023 and 2024 legislation.

Since fiscal year 2002, GAO’s work has resulted in over:

$1.38 trillion dollars in financial benefits; and
Over 28,000 program and operational benefits that helped to change laws, improve public safety, and promote sound management throughout government.
As a non-partisan, fact-based service organization, GAO is committed to providing program and technical expertise to support Congress. This includes crafting legislation; overseeing the executive branch; evaluating government programs, operations, and spending priorities; and assessing information from outside parties.

For more information, contact A. Nicole Clowers at (202) 512-4400 or clowersa@gao.gov.