Duplication & Cost Savings
GAO’s annual report on the federal government’s opportunities to reduce fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, as well as reduce costs and increase revenue.
On June 14, 2023, GAO released its 13th annual report highlighting opportunities to reduce fragmentation, overlap, and duplication in federal programs—as well as chances to save money and increase revenue.
We identified 100 new matters for congressional consideration and recommendations for agencies to save money and improve efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and activities.
Notable examples include:
Congress should reauthorize the First Responder Network Authority by 2027 to ensure the continuity of the public-safety broadband network and collection of potential revenues of billions of dollars over 15 years.
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.
The Department of Health and Human Services could save tens of millions of dollarsannually in medical expenses related to falls by figuring out a way for related federal programs to continue sharing falls prevention information with each other and with disability organizations and providers.
The General Services Administration could generate or savemillions 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.
The federal government could better manage fragmented efforts across 15 agencies and 130 programs to develop and implement a national broadband internet access strategy by addressing any key statutory limitations.
Congress and agencies have made significant progress in addressing many of the 1,885 matters and recommendations that we identified from 2011 to 2023. These efforts have resulted in approximately $600 billion in financial benefits, an increase of almost $47 billion since our 2022 report.
Read our press releaseabout the 2023 annual report—issued on June 14, 2023—to find out more.
Duplication & Cost Savings Recommendations
In our annual report, our recommendations for congressional consideration and agency action are to reduce duplication, overlap, and fragmentation; reduce costs; and increase revenue. Fully addressing these recommendations could result in tens of billions in savings for the federal government. You can search these recommendations here:
Download the entire Duplication & Cost Savings Recommendations Spreadsheet: XLSXCSV
About This Work
The federal government is spending a lot more money than it is collecting, and addressing this imbalance will require changes to both federal spending and revenue policies.
However, Congress and federal agencies could act now to address federal programs or activities that are fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative—which would save the government tens of billions of dollars.
The total savings associated with this work is a rough estimate based on a variety of sources. For more information on our methods for calculating these savings, please visit our report.
Definitions of Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication
