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Open Recommendations (31 total)

Freedom of Information Act: Additional Guidance and Reliable Data Can Help Address Agency Backlogs

GAO-24-106535
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy to issue guidance advising agencies to identify actions in their backlog reduction plans to help ensure staff with the necessary skills are available to support reduction efforts. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

K-12 Education: School Districts Need Better Information to Help Improve Access for People with Disabilities

GAO-20-448
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division should work with Education's Office for Civil Rights to provide state educational agencies and school districts with online information, technical assistance, or training materials related to federal accessibility requirements in public school facilities in the context of safety and security. This may include leveraging recent, online federal initiatives on school safety and physical security. (Recommendation 2)
Open
Department of Justice officials noted that the Department does not take a position on recommendations. As of December 2023, DOJ has not provided any updates on its progress in addressing this recommendation.

Facial Recognition Services: Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Should Take Actions to Implement Training, and Policies for Civil Liberties

GAO-23-105607
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should develop a plan with time frames and milestones for issuing its facial recognition technology policy that addresses safeguards for civil rights and civil liberties. (Recommendation 10)
Open
DOJ officials told us that the agency has issued an interim policy on facial recognition technology. As of March 2024, we have not obtained or reviewed the policy. Once the policy is provided, we will review the information to determine the extent that DOJ's actions have addressed our recommendation.

Freedom of Information Act: Additional Guidance and Reliable Data Can Help Address Agency Backlogs

GAO-24-106535
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) to develop a process for OIP to more closely examine the data agencies report on component-level FOIA requests and average request processing times to help agencies ensure they report accurate average processing times. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Justice The Attorney General should direct the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) to update the materials for OIP's training on annual FOIA reporting to highlight that agencies are required to report weighted average processing times for FOIA requests, and include instructions on how agencies should calculate their weighted average processing times. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women: New Efforts Are Underway but Opportunities Exist to Improve the Federal Response

GAO-22-104045
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should develop a plan—including key steps, who will achieve them, and by when—for accomplishing ongoing analyses of data in existing federal databases and future data that may be gathered to identify relevant trends in cases of missing or murdered American Indian and Alaska Native women and areas of concern. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOJ stated in its May 2022 letter that the agency has taken several actions towards addressing this recommendation. For example, in November 2021, the Assistant Attorney General created a steering committee specifically tasked with developing a strategy for conducting ongoing analyses of existing federal databases and future data that may be gathered. In addition, pursuant to Section 4(c) of Executive Order No. 14,053, DOJ, the Department of Interior, and the Department of Health and Human Services will submit a joint report to the President describing the strategy the agencies have developed to conduct and coordinate that data analysis and identify additional resources or other support necessary to implement that strategy. DOJ stated they will provide GAO with supporting documentation once these efforts are finalized. We reached out to DOJ in May, 2023 and are awaiting a copy of the final report on data collection and missing persons, submitted recently to the White House by the three Departments under E.O. 14053.

Human Rights: Agency Actions Needed to Address Harassment of Dissidents and Other Tactics of Transnational Repression in the U.S.

GAO-24-106183
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should ensure that the Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State, take additional steps to enhance understanding of transnational repression among federal agencies and state and local law enforcement agencies, such as by establishing a formal interagency definition of transnational repression or conducting additional training. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In its written comments on the report, DOJ concurred with this recommendation and said that it is already taking such steps through various training exercises and outreach. GAO will continue to monitor DOJ's actions in response to this recommendation.

Law Enforcement: Federal Agencies Should Improve Reporting and Review of Less-Lethal Force

GAO-22-104470
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should develop standards for its component agencies on the types of less-lethal force that should be reported when used. (Recommendation 3)
Open
Although the department updated its use of force policy in May 2022, the updated policy did not include standards for its component agencies on the types of less-lethal force that should be reported when used. Department of Justice officials stated that as it implements the new policy, the department will continue to examine whether it needs further standards related to less-lethal force. As of March 2024, we have requested additional information from the department on efforts to address this recommendation, as well as any other efforts in place to ensure the consistency in use of force reporting across its component agencies.

Human Rights: Agency Actions Needed to Address Harassment of Dissidents and Other Tactics of Transnational Repression in the U.S.

GAO-24-106183
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice The Attorney General should develop and draft a coordinated, department-wide position on any identified gaps in current legislation for addressing transnational repression and, if appropriate, submit a legislative proposal to the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with OMB Circular A-19. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In its written comments on the report, DOJ said that it would be pleased to consider analyzing potential gaps and developing a coordinated, department-wide position, if appropriate. DOJ noted that it is obligated to abide by the established process for the Executive Branch, including OMB Circular A-19, for the development of legislative proposals and for the clearance of Department and Administration views on such proposals. DOJ further noted that it welcomes requests from Congress for technical assistance on legislative proposals by Congress. GAO will continue to monitor DOJ's actions in response to this recommendation.

Bank Secrecy Act: Action Needed to Improve DOJ Statistics on Use of Reports on Suspicious Financial Transactions

GAO-22-105242
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Justice DOJ's Chief Information Officer, Chief Evaluation Officer and Chief Statistical Official should incorporate data on the use of BSA reports into their ongoing efforts to improve DOJ's data collection and infrastructure to determine if there are ways DOJ component agencies that use BSA reports could more consistently collect data described in NDAA section 6201. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOJ officials reported that since the release of the audit report, representatives from the DOJ's Office of the Chief Information Officer, Evaluation Officer, and Statistical Official have begun to collaborate to identify ways DOJ component agencies that use BSA reports could more consistently collect data described in FY 2021 NDAA Section 6201. However, officials did not report a timeframe for the conclusion of these efforts.
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