Category Archives: Video

Climate Change Adaptation and National Security

In a new report, we assessed the Department of Defense’s (DOD) actions to adapt its U.S. infrastructure to the challenges of climate change. While it’s not possible to link any individual weather event to climate change, these events provide insight … Continue reading

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GAO’s Health Care Team

GAO’s workforce is organized largely by subject area, with most employees working in 1 of 14 mission teams. Today, we’ll be putting the spotlight on the Health Care team, which supports congressional oversight of federal agencies responsible for health care … Continue reading

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Using DATA to Shine the Light on Federal Spending

Understanding how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars is a daunting task. In fiscal year 2013 alone, the federal government spent $3.5 trillion. In May, Congress unanimously passed and the President signed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), which … Continue reading

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Video on our Duplication and Cost Savings Work

In light of today’s challenging fiscal environment, improving government efficiency and effectiveness is important. Our work has identified hundreds of specific actions that the federal government can take–or in some cases, has already taken–to reduce or better manage fragmentation, overlap, and … Continue reading

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Retirees Need Options and Assistance to Make Money Last

As individuals are increasingly responsible for their financial security following retirement, the cost of limited financial literacy can be extremely high. Yet, recent survey data suggest that seniors have some of the lowest financial literacy rates. These surveys—which included questions … Continue reading

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Foreclosure Rescue Schemes and You

Evidence suggests that individuals who are less financially savvy are more likely to fall victim to financial scams, hold high cost mortgages, and engage in costly credit card behavior. As a result, the cost of limited financial literacy can be … Continue reading

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Navigating the Complexities of the Federal Budget

The President and Congress use the federal budget process to help allocate federal funds among competing demands. The 2015 President’s Budget (which will be released on March 4th), is the President’s principal policy statement; the administration’s plan for funding the … Continue reading

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How Gaps in Weather Satellite Data Could Affect You

Heck of a lot of weather we’re having lately, with the polar vortex and record cold temperatures across the country. People rely on the weather forecast to determine how to be safe outdoors. This can also be important during hurricane … Continue reading

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An Introduction to GAO’s High Risk List

As an agency, we focus on improving the operations of a large, complex federal government that is responsible for trillions of dollars. In 1990, we started a program to report on government operations that we identified as “high risk” due … Continue reading

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Retirement Planning in the New Year

Have you looked at your retirement savings account lately? As you make your New Year’s resolutions, consider making retirement planning one of your goals. We were recently asked to look at whether other countries’ experiences with plans similar to 401(k) … Continue reading

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