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Open Recommendations (144 total)

Homeland Security: DHS Needs to Fully Implement Key Practices in Acquiring Biometric Identity Management System

GAO-21-386
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of DHS should direct the OBIM Director to ensure that the HART program office fully reviews and approves or rejects contractor deliverables prior to working on the next system release. (Recommendation 4)
Open
OBIM and the HART program office have not yet demonstrated that they have fully reviewed and approved or rejected contractor deliverables. In February 2024, OBIM officials stated that they allowed the prime development contract to sunset, and plans to use other contractors for the remainder of the HART program. OBIM officials stated that they reviewed and dispositioned all deliverables required of the original contractor. Since the program has significantly modified its acquisition strategy and the associated process for review and approval of contractor deliverables, this recommendation will remain open until OBIM can demonstrate that the HART program is fully reviewing and approving or rejecting contractor deliverables under its new acquisition approach.

Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to Improve Agencies' Use of Contracts for Wildfire Response and Recovery

GAO-23-105292
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should takes steps to resolve the discrepancy between its practice of requiring two agencies that have exercised, or intend to exercise, their emergency acquisition flexibilities to request a National Interest Action code and its criterion as written in the associated memorandum of agreement, which does not specify that two agencies need to request a code. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Homeland Security concurred with this recommendation and estimates that an updated memorandum of agreement will be completed by October 2023.

Biometric Identity System: DHS Needs to Address Significant Shortcomings in Program Management and Privacy

GAO-23-105959
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of DHS should direct the OBIM Director to establish and implement a timeline for maintaining a reliable inventory of information sharing and access agreements with partners that share data with HART. (Recommendation 8)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

DHS Employee Misconduct: Actions Needed to Better Assess Differences in Supervisor and Non-Supervisor Discipline

GAO-24-105820
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the DHS Misconduct Governance Board clarifies its guidance to detail expectations for components to report misconduct data to OCHCO for analysis, to include definitions of key terms and explanations for reporting complete and consistent information. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Capitol Attack: Special Event Designations Could Have Been Requested for January 6, 2021, but Not All DHS Guidance is Clear [Reissued with revisions on Aug. 09, 2021.]

GAO-21-105255
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Homeland Security should consider whether additional factors, such as the context of the events and surrounding circumstances in light of the current environment of emerging threats, are needed for designating NSSE events. (Recommendation 1)
Open
As of March 11, 2024, DHS officials stated that they do not concur with this recommendation and requested that GAO consider this recommendation resolved and closed. We disagree and maintain that implementing this recommendation is important. While past congressional certifications of election results were not designated National Special Security Events and DHS officials considered this normal congressional business, the lack of consideration of other factors, such as the large rally at the Ellipse that mobilized to the Capitol, and the climate surrounding the 2020 election demonstrate a gap in the adaptability of how these events are considered. To fully implement this recommendation, DHS needs to formally review the factors it developed to designate a National Special Security Event (NSSE), including whether additional events should be designated as an NSSE. A review of these factors can help ensure that the process for designating an NSSE is dynamic and responsive to changing environments and emerging threats.

Law Enforcement: DHS Should Strengthen Use of Force Data Collection and Analysis

GAO-23-105927
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should provide guidance on how its component agencies submit data to DHS for the range of scenarios when force was used multiple times. For example, when:

  • one officer used one device on the same subject multiple times, or more than one device on the same subject;
  • one officer used one device on multiple subjects; and
  • multiple officers used force against one—or more than one—subject. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In January 2024, DHS reported that DHS's Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, in coordination with DHS's Law Enforcement Coordination Council's Reporting Working Group, developed guidance that will clarify how component agencies should report on the range of scenarios when force was used multiple times, as set forth in our recommendation. DHS expected this guidance to be finalized by June 2024. We will continue to monitor DHS efforts and will consider this recommendation closed as implemented once we learn that the forthcoming guidance has been released.

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the department develops a plan to either achieve consistency with EO 13960 section 5 for each AI application or retires AI applications found to be developed or used in a manner that is not consistent with the order. (Recommendation 16)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Flood Insurance: Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of the WYO Program

GAO-09-455
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security To provide transparency and accountability over the payments FEMA makes to WYOs for expenses and profits, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Under Secretary of Homeland Security, FEMA, to determine in advance the amounts built into the payment rates for estimated expenses and profit.
Open
According to FEMA officials, FEMA planned to respond to this recommendation as part of its development of a final rule on WYO compensation practices, required by the Biggert-Waters Act. FEMA's current payment rates do not explicitly consider WYO insurers' actual expenses and profit. FEMA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on July 8, 2019 seeking comments by September 6, 2019 regarding possible approaches to incorporating actual flood insurance expense data into the WYO payment methodology. As of February 2021, FEMA officials completed reviewing comments received in response to the July 2019 notice and concluded that they needed to reassess their approach to compensating WYO insurers. In April 2021, FEMA officials explained that they had established goals, outputs, and milestones related to analyzing various aspects of WYO compensation as part of a three-pronged effort that included the drafting of a procedures manual for determining WYO insurer profit margins based on reported expense data and conducting a comprehensive study of WYO compensation. As of January 2022, FEMA had issued a contract to examine the accuracy, completeness, limitations and utility of actual flood expense data and provide options for how this data might inform a new compensation methodology for WYO insurers and selling agents and brokers. The study has since been completed and FEMA completed its internal review in September 2023. According to FEMA officials, workgroups comprised of specialists from across various branches of its Federal Insurance Directorate (FID) have been formed as of March 2024 to complete the research, analysis, and policy deliberations on the various elements of WYO compensation. These ongoing analyses and methodology design efforts continue to be informed by FID's analysis of WYO expenses and implied profits as well as the results of the study to assess WYO expenses and profits and possible alternative compensation models.

FEMA Workforce: Additional Actions Needed to Help Prevent and Respond to Discrimination and Harassment

GAO-23-105243
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should update mandatory antiharassment training consistent with EEOC's Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment, to ensure it includes:

  1. Examples that are tailored to the DHS-specific workplace and workforce;
  2. Explanations of the information that may be requested during an investigation, including: the name or a description of the alleged harasser(s), alleged victim(s), and any witnesses; the date(s) of the alleged harassment; the location(s) of the alleged harassment; and a description of the alleged harassment; and
  3. An opportunity for employees to ask questions about the training, harassment policy, complaint system, and related rules and expectations, either during the training or by providing component-specific points of contact. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In July 2023, officials said that they have a contract to deliver updated training and anticipate delivering the training by September 30, 2024.

Homeland Security: Joint Requirements Council Needs Leadership Attention to Improve Effectiveness

GAO-23-106125
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure that the Deputy's Management Action Group (DMAG), in coordination with the JRC participates in the Joint Requirements Integration and Management System process, by reviewing and validating all designated documents determined to be DMAG Interest by the JRC. (Recommendation 4)
Open
In providing comments on this report, DHS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it plans to align the JRC within the DHS Management Directorate in fiscal year 2024, after which the JRC interactions with the DMAG would be more focused on informing prioritized investment decision-making. DHS also said it planned to review the current Joint Requirements Integration and Management System lexicon and update related guidance in fall 2024 to better differentiate between documents warranting department-wide review and those special circumstances when DMAG involvement is necessary. In February 2024, DHS stated that planned actions were pending approval of a fiscal year 2024 budget. In March 2024, Congress directed DHS to dissolve the existing JRC and identify alternative methods to improve the management and resourcing of joint requirements across the department. We will continue to monitor the actions DHS plans to take and determine whether these actions meet the intent of the recommendation.
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