DHS, FDA, NASA, and DoD highlight actions taken to meet criteria for progress or removal from GAO’s High Risk List
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, hosted a roundtable discussion to highlight progress that agencies have made in addressing challenges that put federal programs at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement within their agencies as outlined in the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) High Risk List, which is updated every two years at the start of a new Congress.
The roundtable, titled “Progress is Possible: Tackling the Challenges on GAO’s High Risk List to Make Government Work Better,” featured remarks from officials whose agencies were highlighted in a GAO report released last month. The report provided specific examples of actions taken by particular agencies that met at least one of the five criteria for removal from GAO’s High Risk List, showing that progress is possible.
“The High Risk List is about solving problems, and the stories we heard today confirm that the challenges agencies struggle with can be overcome,” said Senator Carper. “I’ve long-considered the High Risk List to be Congress’ ‘to-do’ list. It helps us find bipartisan solutions to problems by identifying potential sources of waste, fraud, and inefficiency. The officials we heard from today show us that progress in addressing these issues is possible. It’s not quick or glamorous work, but because of their dedicated efforts, these programs can and have been made to work better.”
Carper continued, “As I like to say, we should find out what works and do more of that. We need to make sure that other agencies on the High Risk List understand what went right at these agencies we heard from today and we should encourage them to apply these techniques to their own challenges. By confronting these challenges head on, we can work together to improve the effectiveness of government, save taxpayer dollars, and ensure that we get better results for the people we serve.”
Senator Carper was joined today by officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who discussed progress each of their agencies have made to their own programs to reduce vulnerabilities. The good work done by these agencies could provide a roadmap for other agencies looking to improve performance and meet the criteria for removal from the High Risk List as well.
A full list of roundtable attendees is available below:
- Chris Mihm, Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the Government Accountability Office
Bio and prepared remarks available here.
- Prof. Don Kettl, Professor and Former Dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy
Bio and prepared remarks available here.
- Michelle Benecke, Executive Director for Management Integration for the Department of Homeland Security
Bio and prepared remarks available here.
- Jeff Shuren, Director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Bio and prepared remarks available here.
- Andrew Hunter, Deputy Chief Financial Officer for Strategy, Budget and Performance of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Bio and prepared remarks available here.
- Ms. Jan Mulligan, Logistics Management Specialist for Supply Chain Integration, Department of Defense
Bio available here.
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