GAO Highlights $95 Billion In Waste and Duplication

It’s been a busy year with the Fiscal Cliff, sequestration, the President’s budget release, and, of course, Tax Day (April 15) on Monday.  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has also been busy.  On April 9, the GAO released, “Actions Needed to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits,” that, “identifies 31 areas where agencies may be able to achieve greater efficiency or effectiveness.”  All told, more than $95 billion in savings could be achieved from following GAO’s recommendations.

An editorial in The Examiner highlighted the report and chronicled the fact that there is no end to the waste that exists in the federal budget.  As The Examiner noted, “How many federal agencies does it take to do catfish safety inspections? At least three, according to the Government Accountability Office, which on Tuesday released its 2013 report on fragmentation and duplication of federal programs. This year’s report documents an estimated $95 billion in duplicative programs that waste precious tax dollars. That brings the three-year total of potential savings documented by GAO to $295 billion.”

While the GAO is a federally funded agency that looks for savings and program effectiveness, there is no guarantee that their recommendations are followed.  As The Examiner noted, “85 of the 300 recommendations made by the GAO since 2011 have been totally ignored, while another 149 remain on the waiting list for action.”

While members of Congress are paid $285,000 per year with benefits, to conduct oversight of federal programs, it does not appear they are earning their keep.  In an age where federal government spending for discretionary programs is decreasing, common wisdom would be that duplicative programs would be the first to go, but this does not appear to be the case.  Instead, politicians will continually find ways to help fatten their districts with federal money.  The words of Ronald Regan never rang truer than when he said, “Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.” These words even seem to be true when it is a program that is completely unnecessary.  The only likely way to get rid of these duplicative programs would be decrease the amount of federal money available even further.  Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) pointed out that the GAO report included the following egregious examples of duplication:

• 679 renewable energy initiatives at 23 federal agencies and their 130 sub-agencies cost taxpayers $15 billion in FY 2010.
• 76 programs to prevent or treat drug abuse are spread across 15 agencies, costing $4.5 billion in FY 2012.
• 159 contracting organizations in 10 different Defense Department components provide defense foreign language support. GAO estimates $50 to $200 million in potential savings by eliminating this duplication.

This report is a stark reminder that, just days before Tax Day and all the hand wringing about sequestration, there are plenty of ways to save money without affecting essential government services.