GAO has released its annual report, which identifies 68 actions that could save the government billions including a recommendation that the Coast Guard close boat stations that provide unnecessarily duplicative search-and-rescue coverage.
Among the new actions identified, GAO also found that DoD could potentially save approximately $527 million over 5 years by minimizing unnecessary overlap and duplication in its U.S. distribution centers for troop support goods.
The annual report also examined progress made on the 724 actions that GAO identified from 2011 to 2017. As of March 2018, Congress and executive branch agencies have fully or partially addressed 551 (76 percent) of these actions. This has resulted in about $178 billion in financial benefits, of which $125 billion has been realized and at least an additional $53 billion is estimated to accrue. It estimates that tens of billions of additional dollars could be saved should Congress and executive branch agencies fully address the remaining 365 open actions, including the 68 new ones identified in 2018.
GAO found that significant savings could be made by addressing some of the outstanding actions; for example, DoD could achieve billions of dollars in savings over the next several years by continuing to employ best management practices on its weapon systems acquisition programs.