Government Accountability Office Archives

Pentagon Still Can’t Account for Roughly $220 Billion in Equipment, Gov’t Watchdog Says

January 19, 2023 Admin

The Department of Defense (DOD) has neglected to address its inability to keep track of at least $220 billion in equipment provided to government contractors, according to a Tuesday report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Auditors first reported the Pentagon’s failure to account for government-owned equipment or material offered up for use to contracting agencies, also called government furnished property, in 2001, according to the report. DOD has made little improvement since then, increasing the risk that the Pentagon could accidentally overlook errors in the books.

‘Nearly Doubled’ Foreign Investment in U.S. Farmland Comes Under Scrutiny

October 6, 2022October 5, 2022 The Center Square

A coalition of 130 lawmakers sent a letter to a top federal watchdog raising the alarm about a spike in foreign ownership of U.S. farmland.

The letter calls for the Government Accountability Office to conduct a full review of that foreign ownership, its potential impact on trade, national security, food security and what the federal government is doing about it, if anything.

Biden Reboots Obama-Era Green Energy Loan Program That Funded Solyndra and Cost Taxpayers Billions

June 14, 2022June 13, 2022 Admin

The Biden administration has rebooted the Energy Department’s green loan program that lent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the Obama-era to the now-defunct green energy company, Solyndra, according to an announcement.

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Utah will receive the loan, leaving $2.5 billion for other clean energy projects, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated Wednesday.

Supreme Court Hands Biden Admin Major Win for Climate Agenda

May 30, 2022May 29, 2022 Admin

The Supreme Court denied a petition from 10 Republican-led states Thursday requesting it to block a key Biden administration climate policy.

The decision ensures that President Joe Biden’s so-called “social cost” of carbon policy — which assigns an estimated dollar value or cost to every ton of carbon emissions, according to the Government Accountability Office — can remain in place and be used for future federal permitting processes. The high court rejected states’ April 27 petition without giving a reason or listing which justices opposed it, according to a one-page filing published on the Supreme Court docket.

Treasury Department Has Distributed Fraction of Emergency Rent Assistance with Just Days Until Evictions Begin

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Department of the Treasury has awarded a small fraction of the tens of billions of dollars Congress appropriated for pandemic rental assistance since January.

The federal government has expended less than $3 billion of the $46.6 billion in funds given to the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program, the Treasury Department announced on Wednesday. The U.S. doled out $1.49 billion from January through May and $1.5 billion in June to low-income renters nationwide, according to a spreadsheet published by the Treasury.

Government Accountability Office Investigates Biden’s Decision to Halt Border Wall Construction

March 26, 2021March 25, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has opened an investigation into President Joe Biden’s decision to freeze congressional funds allocated for construction of the southern border wall, Politico reported.

Senate Republicans requested the GAO investigate the Biden administration for potentially violating the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), which prohibits the president from altering funding appropriated by Congress without approval, Politico reported. Republicans are referring to the $1.4 billion allocated for border wall construction in the $900 billion COVID bill passed by Congress in December.

House Republicans Seek Probe of Chinese Communist Party Investment in US Visa Program

June 16, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Government Accountability Office to review whether members of the Chinese Communist Party have exploited a program that allows foreigners to obtain green cards by investing in businesses in the United States.

Reps. Jim Jordan and Guy Reschenthaler sent a letter Monday to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, inquiring whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its members have used the EB-5 program to gain a foothold in the United States.

Watchdog Repeatedly Warned About Nursing Home Infections Before Pandemic Struck

May 22, 2020May 21, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Infection prevention and control deficiencies were widespread across most of the country’s nursing homes before the coronavirus outbreak, a watchdog group reported Thursday.

More than 82% of the United States’ 15,500 nursing homes were cited for infection prevention and control deficiencies between 2013 and 2017, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote in a blog post Thursday.

Congessional Auditor: Interest Payments on National Debt to Top Military Spending by 2025

September 20, 2019September 19, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

The national debt could be nearly twice the size of the economy by 2048 if steps are not taken to reduce it, a new report released by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) states.

PROOF: Trio of Project Veritas Videos Expose Unaccountable Federal Government Employees Pushing a Soclialist Agenda From Within the Administrative State

September 22, 2018September 21, 2018 Admin

By Natalia Castro When federal bureaucrats are unaccountable to even their own managers, it can be hard to identify and correct abuse within the system. In his most recent undercover expose, James O’Keefe sought to uncover the stories of the federal government’s worst employees directly from the source. This week,…