GAO Recommendations Have Led to $725 Billion in Financial Benefits – New Duplication and Cost Savings Report Shows Potential for Another $100 Billion or More

WASHINGTON (May 13, 2025) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today issued its 15th annual report identifying new opportunities to save taxpayers billions of dollars by reducing overlap, duplication, and fragmentation across the federal government. Since 2011, implementation of GAO’s work in this area has led to $725 billion in savings for the federal government. This year’s report adds 148 new measures in 43 topic areas that Congress and federal agencies could take to reduce costs, improve programs, and boost revenues. Implementing our newest measures, in conjunction with our existing recommendations, could save over $100 billion for the American people.

“Our updated report provides Congress and federal agencies with new and meaningful opportunities to save federal funds across a wide range of programs,” said Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO. “By addressing this year’s updated list, as well as open recommendations to both agencies and Congress from GAO’s past work, the federal government could potentially save an additional one hundred billion dollars.”

Notable suggestions in our latest report include:

• The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and 24 federal agencies should implement statutory requirements for annual IT portfolio reviews and high-risk IT investment reviews, which could result in one hundred million dollars or more in cost savings by reducing duplicative IT investments and halting or terminating investments, when appropriate.
• The Space Development Agency should fully demonstrate its space-based laser communications technology in each iterative development phase before progressing, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars over 10 years.
• The Department of Defense should take steps to incorporate data analytics into its fraud risk management strategy and improve the usability of fraud investigative information to support fraud risk management and potentially save one hundred million dollars or more.
• OMB and General Services Administration should join Congress in taking steps to help ensure the Federal Audit Clearinghouse contains quality single audit information, which could reduce risk and resolve deficiencies in federal award spending by hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
• The Department of Interior could prevent continued productivity losses and cost overruns from a failed data system development and improve its compliance activities to verify federal oil and gas royalties, potentially increasing collections by tens of millions of dollars per year.

While significant work remains, Congress and federal agencies have made strides on these issues. As of March, they had fully or partially addressed 1,590 (about 78 percent) of the 2,049 matters and recommendations that GAO identified from 2011 to 2025.  Since last year’s report, GAO identified about $57 billion more in savings from continuing work on these efforts, bringing the total level of government savings to $725 billion. Implementation of our recommendations has also achieved additional benefits, such as improved interagency coordination and reduced mismanagement, fraud, waste, and abuse. The status of GAO’s recommendations can be followed on its Duplication and Cost Savings page on the GAO website.

For more information, contact Sarah Kaczmarek, Managing Director of GAO Public Affairs at media@gao.gov.

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The Government Accountability Office, known as the investigative arm of Congress, is an independent, nonpartisan agency that exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO provides Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonideological, fair, and balanced. GAO’s commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.