Page 1 GAO-24-107656 Federal Programs
Each year, the federal government spends trillions of dollars on federal programs
that support the American people and address policy goals. However, it does not
have a full inventory of these programs, despite requirements enacted in 2011 to
develop and annually update one on a publicly available website.
A comprehensive listing of programs, along with related funding and performance
information, would help federal decision-makers and the public better understand
what the government does, what it spends, and what it achieves each year. It
could also be a critical tool to help decision-makers better identify and manage
fragmentation, overlap, and duplication across the federal government.
The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2021 expanded requirements for the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to develop an inventory of all federal programs with related spending and
performance information. It requires OMB to publish a complete inventory by
January 2025. The act also includes provisions for us to review different aspects
of its implementation (Pub. L. No. 116-283, div. H, § 9601, 134 Stat. 3388, 4823–
4828 (2021), codified, in part, at 31 U.S.C. § 1122(a)).
This is the first in a series of products responding to those provisions. We are
providing information about OMB’s efforts to develop, maintain, and update a
program inventory to ensure it is comprehensive and provides useful information.
• OMB published an inventory in February 2024 that represents substantial
progress and an important first step in fulfilling statutory requirements. It
provides spending and other relevant information for the more than 2,000
federal financial assistance programs.
• The inventory does not yet include all federal programs or required
information. OMB does not have public-facing plans that identify the actions
and resources it needs to fully develop a comprehensive inventory by the
January 2025 statutory deadline or any future date.
• OMB has taken some actions to establish data governance—activities to
ensure data are transparent, accessible, and of sufficient quality—for the
inventory. However, it has not fully implemented five out of the six activities
our past work has identified as part of an effective data governance structure.
• We recommend that OMB take a systematic approach and involve key
stakeholders as it articulates plans for how and when it will fully implement a
comprehensive program inventory and establish a data governance structure
for managing the inventory. OMB generally concurred with our
recommendations.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Federal Programs: OMB Needs a Structure to
Govern and
a Plan to Develop a
-24-107656
Report to Congressional Committees
25, 2024
