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Open Recommendations

Child Nutrition Programs: USDA Could Enhance Its Management and Oversight of State Administrative Expense Funds
GAO-25-106977
May 29, 2025
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Food and Nutrition Service to identify changes that would help improve SAE allocations and processes and determine how it could implement those changes, including by pursuing any regulatory changes or requesting any necessary statutory authority. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation, noting that it aligns with the agency's guiding principles and priorities of executing programs with integrity and accountability. USDA stated that efforts are already underway to address it, including reviewing and taking actions consistent with the 2020 study the agency commissioned to assess the SAE funding formula and present a series of options to potentially improve SAE allocations and procedures. We await further progress on this recommendation.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Food and Nutrition Service to identify specific steps it can take to help ensure the agency has current information on states' planned budgets and activities for using SAE funds, such as better communicating expectations for submission of SAE plans or working with Congress to consider whether the frequency with which these are submitted needs to be revised. (Recommendation 2)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation, noting that it aligns with the agency's guiding principles and priorities of executing programs with integrity and accountability. USDA plans to provide more detailed responses on its actions within 180 days. We await further information and progress on this recommendation.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure the Food and Nutrition Service establishes timeliness goals or other targets to ensure states take corrective action on SAE compliance review findings in a timely manner. (Recommendation 3)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation, noting that it aligns with the agency's guiding principles and priorities of executing programs with integrity and accountability. USDA plans to provide more detailed responses on its actions within 180 days. We await further information and progress on this recommendation.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure the Food and Nutrition Service updates its SAE guidance to reflect current SAE grant requirements and is useful to state agency personnel responsible for compliance. (Recommendation 4)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation, noting that it aligns with the agency's guiding principles and priorities of executing programs with integrity and accountability. USDA plans to provide more detailed responses on its actions within 180 days. We await further information and progress on this recommendation.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Federal Actions Needed to Help Connect College Students with Benefits
GAO-25-106000
Apr 10, 2025
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5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should develop a written plan for implementing provisions in the FAFSA Simplification Act related to sharing FAFSA data with SNAP administrators, to aid in benefit outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Education did not comment on this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to address it.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should, in consultation with USDA, evaluate its approach to identifying and notifying FAFSA applicants who are potentially eligible for SNAP benefits and adjust its approach as needed. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Education did not comment on this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to address it.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should inform colleges and state higher education agencies that FAFSA notifications are being sent to applicants who are potentially eligible for SNAP benefits. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Department of Education did not comment on this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to address it.
Department of Agriculture The Administrator of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service should, in consultation with Education, issue guidance to state SNAP agencies—such as in its SNAP outreach priority memo—to clarify permissible uses of student data, including FAFSA data, for SNAP outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 4)
Open
USDA did not comment on this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to address it.
Department of Agriculture The Administrator of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service should issue guidance to state SNAP agencies—such as in its SNAP outreach priority memo—to clarify the permissible uses and disclosure of SNAP data to support SNAP student outreach and enrollment assistance. (Recommendation 5)
Open
USDA did not comment on this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to address it.

Food Safety: USDA Should Take Additional Actions to Strengthen Oversight of Meat and Poultry [Reissued with revisions on Jan. 23, 2025]
GAO-25-107613
Jan 23, 2025
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5 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of FSIS should develop a prioritization plan to fully document which products to address and the additional policies needed to effectively address pathogen reduction for Salmonella in meat and standards for Campylobacter in turkey parts. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In response to this recent recommendation, as of March 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response to this recommendation.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should review the public health impacts of delaying proposed pathogen standards for Salmonella in meat and standards for Campylobacter in turkey parts, to inform a prioritization plan. This review could include assessing risks to human health and gathering information about potential gaps in oversight. (Recommendation 2)
Open
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In response to this recent recommendation, as of March 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response to this recommendation.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should update its memorandum of understanding with APHIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify specific pathogens of concern and each agency's responsibilities in coordinating and responding to these pathogens' occurrence in outbreak investigation activities. (Recommendation 3)
Open
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In response to this recent recommendation, as of March 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response to this recommendation.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service The Administrator of APHIS should update its memorandum of understanding with FSIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify specific pathogens of concern and each agency's responsibilities in coordinating and responding to these pathogens' occurrence in outbreak investigation activities. (Recommendation 4)
Open
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In response to this recent recommendation, as of March 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response to this recommendation.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should offer educational materials, such as signage, to its regulated plants on sanitation to support their efforts to comply with FSIS's requirements and guidance to reduce the spread of pathogens in meat and poultry products. (Recommendation 5)
Open
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In response to this recent recommendation, as of March 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response to this recommendation.

Equal Employment Opportunity: USDA Could Strengthen Efforts to Address Workplace Discrimination Complaints
GAO-25-105804
Jan 21, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure OASCR consistently monitors and reports annually to the Secretary on agency ADR programs, as authorized by federal regulation. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USDA agreed with our recommendation; and, as of April 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure OASCR updates its policy, as planned, and resumes its reviews of agency civil rights training program plans, as directed by departmental policy. (Recommendation 2)
Open
USDA agreed with our recommendation; and, as of April 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure OASCR develops and administers a department-wide tool for obtaining anonymous information from employees about their experiences with workplace discrimination. This effort should be in coordination with all relevant USDA agencies, offices, and mission areas. (Recommendation 3)
Open
USDA agreed with our recommendation; and, as of April 2025, USDA had not provided GAO with any actions taken in response.
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