Government watchdog reports that its unimplemented recommendations could save $100 billion

The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday released its annual report on opportunities to reduce fragmentation, overlap and duplication in the federal government, issuing 148 new recommendations. The watchdog predicted that implementing those proposals, as well as past open suggestions, could generate $100 billion or more in savings. 

Congress and agencies, as of March 2025, have fully addressed 1,460 (71%) of the 2,049 recommendations GAO has provided in these reports between 2011-2025 and partially implemented another 130 (about 6%). As a rough estimate, the oversight agency said those efforts have yielded approximately $725 billion in financial benefits, which is a $57 billion increase since the last report.  

Some of the new suggestions cover possible overlap in Veterans Affairs and Defense department mental health programs for service members transitioning to civilian life and Interior Department compliance activities to verify federal oil and gas royalties that could increase collections by tens of millions of dollars annually. 

GAO also recommended that the Office of Management and Budget and 24 other federal agencies fully implement statutory requirements for annual IT portfolio reviews and high-risk IT investment reviews, which could create $100 million or more in savings. 

Other open recommendations include: 

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Housing and Urban Development and Transportation departments should better manage fragmentation among their respective disaster recovery programs, which could improve the effectiveness of recovery efforts and was first recommended in 2022. President Donald Trump has mused about eliminating FEMA. 
• Congress should consider enhancing IRS’ enforcement capabilities to reduce the gap between taxes owed and paid, which could save billions of dollars over 10 years and has been addressed in several GAO reports since 2008. The IRS has already lost the staffing gains it made under President Joe Biden’s administration, and more layoffs are expected to take place. 
• The Office of Personnel Management should implement a process to identify and remove ineligible family members from the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, which could save $1 billion or more over 10 years and was first recommended in 2022. GAO noted that OPM has made some progress, but the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in March advanced, with bipartisan support, legislation that would legislatively mandate such a process. 

It would appear that the recommendation with the largest potential financial benefit, which was first issued in 2015, is one for Congress to require the Health and Human Services Department to equalize payment rates between settings for all hospital outpatient departments, regardless of whether they are deemed on-campus or off-campus, for evaluation and management office visits and other services determined by the HHS secretary. GAO estimated that such an action would save $156.9 billion over 10 years. 

The report also stressed that an inventory of federal programs would assist with identifying fragmentation, overlap and duplication across agencies. The Office of Management and Budget has been required to establish such an inventory since 2011, and while GAO acknowledged that OMB has made some progress, it still doesn’t include all federal programs, including acquisitions, defense and foreign assistance. 

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has become a signature component of Trump’s second term, leading to layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees. The initiative estimates that it has saved $170 billion, however, that number is disputed. For example, The New York Times reported over the weekend that DOGE’s website listed 43 government contracts as terminated even though agencies revived them.

On Tuesday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said GAO's report "shows Congress still has work to do to rein in the runaway bureaucracy."

"This report can further serve as a blueprint for congressional action needed to protect taxpayers and make our federal government programs operate more efficiently and effectively," he said in a statement.