Category Archives: Government Operations

Federal Smarter Buying Initiatives (podcast)

The federal government saved nearly $500 million over the past 5 years through “smarter buying”—such as by leveraging the government’s collective buying power for discounts on things like office supplies. But that’s small change compared to the billions of dollars … Continue reading

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How the Government Engaged the Public to Help Rebuild After Sandy: The Rebuild by Design Competition

Today we’re pleased to share a blog post written by one of our 2016 summer interns, Lauren Shaman, a graduate student at Indiana University. As the fourth anniversary of superstorm Sandy draws near, let’s take a look at one of … Continue reading

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Funding What Works (infographic)

A new policy tool called “tiered evidence grantmaking” allows federal agencies to award smaller amounts of grant funding to test promising ideas, and larger amounts to replicate practices with a proven record of success. How exactly does that work? Scroll … Continue reading

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GAO for Your Reading Pleasure

Our reports make for great reads, but sometimes summer calls for lighter fare. For National Book Lovers Day, read about how our real-life work shows up in best sellers and lesser known books alike. Best sellers

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Working toward Implementing the DATA Act

Federal agencies spend more than $3.7 trillion a year. But it’s not always easy to get reliable, useful, and consistent information about this spending—information that can help improve oversight, decision making, and transparency. So, Congress passed the Digital Accountability and … Continue reading

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The Costs and Benefits of Federal Telework (podcast)

It used to be that if you weren’t in the office, you couldn’t get work done. Now, at least 1 million federal employees are eligible to telework. But what are the costs and benefits to federal agencies of this flexible … Continue reading

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When the Federal Government Makes Improper Payments (podcast)

Federal government agencies made an estimated $137 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2015. These were payments that shouldn’t have been made at all or were sent in the wrong amount. Here is Beryl Davis, a director in our … Continue reading

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Can We Count on an Accurate Count?

The 2010 Census was the most expensive in U.S. history—it cost about $13 billion from start to finish (in 2010 dollars). Using the same design, the 2020 Census would cost over $17 billion (in 2020 dollars). But the Census Bureau’s … Continue reading

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Customer Service for Federal Student Loan Borrowers (podcast)

The Department of Education issued almost $96 billion in higher education loans through its Direct Loan Program in fiscal year 2015. Under this program, students borrow from the federal government, but repay the loan through loan servicers under contract with … Continue reading

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Managing for Results in the Federal Government (podcast)

Every year, certain executive branch federal agencies are supposed to identify their major management challenges and report on their specific plans to fix them. But are they following through and effectively identifying challenges and solutions? Listen to Chris Mihm, managing … Continue reading

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