Talk about good timing. With Congress at work on the next federal budget, and some members looking for new ways to cut spending, the Government Accountability Office is out with its most recent annual report. Inside are a series of recommendations – complete with GAO research – on the many ways Uncle Sam can work smarter and save money.
The report's potential savings are of the old fashioned sort: less duplication, more accountability. And of course, less waste. Among the recommendations:
The Office of Personnel Management could save hundreds of millions of dollars or more annually by implementing a monitoring mechanism to identify and remove ineligible family members from the Federal Employees Health Benefits program.
That's a sensible fix that would save real money. It should earn support from both sides of the aisle. What other savings has the GAO identified?
The Internal Revenue Service should document processes used to address certain compliance risks for COVID-19 employer tax credits, and implement additional compliance activities to potentially recapture tens of millions of dollars or more of ineligible claims.
The General Services Administration could generate or save millions of dollars in property sales or space reduction opportunities by leveraging lessons learned to help with decision-making processes.
The Small Business Administration could recover millions of dollars by taking additional steps to identify and respond to potentially fraudulent or ineligible Restaurant Revitalization Fund recipients.
In other words, cracking down on waste, fraud, abuse and so on. All of these ideas should get broad, immediate congressional support.
And perhaps they will – particularly among those who genuinely want to restrain federal spending. If those ideas aren't enough, the agency has an entire website devoted to “duplication and cost savings.” It's a treasure trove of investigations into federal programs, agencies and departments, all aimed at making government work smarter and more responsibly.
Of course, the bureaucracy is sometimes slow or simply uninterested in fully implementing GAO recommendations. That's why it's crucial for the entity that controls the purse strings – Congress – to enforce accountability through the budget process.
That's hardly as sexy as issuing a press release touting one's effort to zero-out agency X or department Z. But trimming the budgetary fat is essential for the government's overall fiscal health. The resources to make such accountability happen are there, clearly marked and identified. There's no excuse for ignoring them as the budget follies get underway.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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How about a simple step – notify all Fed employees that if they are found to have ineligible family members on their Health Benefits Plan they will be dismissed for fraud.
Prosecuted as well
First off No welfare for any illegal, undocumented, refugees, that includes Social Security, Foodstamps, Medicare, Medicade, Housing, Not anything or any programs, that the Taxpayers pay into, it is their Money not the government’s, then go after able bodied citizens, that they have to work, show up on time do the job, then if need to get help it would just be a supplement to help nothing Free, only one exception Mothers of under school age children, and No new pregnancy, once children are in school full time then the Mothers need to get a job, while they are in school, then quit giving Taxpayers Money to other countries, No money to the U.N. Or organizations like aclu, blm, antifa, public Tv, many other unworthy places, cut the pay of all politicians, state federal, judges, No bodyguards for these politicians unless they pay for it themselves, No retirement benefits, No healthcare except obamacare, these people work for us and they should never have better than the normal working people
Gee sounds like the plan Trump put in place to get people back to work & save $$. No wonder Democrats didn’t want him in office again. He’d ruin all their plans.
How about refusing any benefits to people who are here illegally and ending birthright citizenship of illegals.
Well, I think that this article is spot on perfect. The GAO’s mission is to protect the American people from our own leadership. It seems odd that most of Americans do not even know it exists. But, that is because, as is the same with many of the these Congressional committees, they have no teeth (authority) to get something done. Only bring out facts and make suggestions. So, if you are going to do something positive, listen to the smart people that have been hired to come up with solutions. But, I guess no one in interested in that. Only interested in there own self serving scams.
All fine and dandy. BUT…………………..
The government is not in business to save money. They’re only in business to spend money. Like drunken sailors.
And when their piggy bank is close to empty, they simply raise taxes. Or print more money. Or rob from other areas. Or borrow from future generations. Or all of the aforementioned, and then some.
CUT Waste, overhead
see CAGW.org waste lists & spenders
CUT DC Beltway alone
I remember Trump made an attempt at “consolidating” duplicate programs. no surprise. the dems went bat crap crazy and went into hyperventilating mode. they vilified him about it. good luck trying to change anything.
Great to see the possiblities that Pelosi had always refused to implement to cut frivolous spending. This along with no or little regulation review of bureaus like the BLM and agencies like the EPA have created a financial burden unlike nothing we’ve ever seen thanks to Democrats that have not done their due diligence in setting them up and reviewing them. A government shut down doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me until this is under control.