GAO News

FEMA Slammed for Puerto Rico Hurricane Response by Government Watchdog

The federal government’s chief watchdog slammed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the hurricane that killed thousands of people in Puerto Rico last year, saying it was unprepared and failed to deploy enough qualified staff. The U.S. Government Accountability …

Government Health Insurance Website Logged 316 Cybersecurity Incidents

The web portal used by millions of consumers to get health insurance coverage under President Barack Obama’s law logged 316 security incidents in just under 18 months, said a report Wednesday by nonpartisan congressional investigators. The Government Accountability Office said …

Many Native American Schools in Disrepair

Federal officials have failed to ensure regular inspections are carried out at dozens of Native American schools, where safety hazards have ranged from exposed electrical wires and broken windows to a natural gas leak, a government watchdog said. Nearly 200 …

Increase in Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths in U.S.

More Americans are walking and bicycling to work, which is great as a means to reducing the risk of heart disease, obesity, and stress. But there’s a grim side to this otherwise healthy change in behavior: More pedestrians and cyclists are …

Extreme Weather Points to Value in Protecting Supply Chains

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, citing a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report, “Federal Supply Chains: Opportunities to Improve the Management of Climate-Related Risks,” urged the federal government and private sector to better understand and protect against …

Report Finds U.S. Planes Vulnerable to In-Flight Hacking

U.S. commercial airliners could be hacked in flight by passengers using a plane’s wireless entertainment system to access its flight controls, a federal watchdog agency warned on Tuesday. A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office identified the danger …

GAO Report Warns of ACA Website Security Risks

HealthCare.gov, President Barack Obama’s health insurance exchange, has security and privacy protection vulnerabilities, a U.S. government watchdog reported on Tuesday, nearly a year after the website’s troubled rollout. The General Accounting Office (GAO) said that despite steps taken by the …

Federal Probe Finds Chemical Plant Oversight Lacking

The government has no way of fully knowing which U.S. chemical facilities stock ammonium nitrate, the substance that exploded last year at a Texas fertilizer plant and killed 14 people, congressional investigators say. Outdated federal policies, poor information sharing with …

Patent Quality Improvements Could be Made by Reviewing Patent Infringement Litigation

From 2000 to 2010, the number of patent infringement lawsuits in the federal courts fluctuated slightly, and from 2010 to 2011, the number of such lawsuits increased by about a third, according to a study conducted by the Government Accountability …

GAO Releases Gas Pipeline Safety Report

Federal regulators must account for response times in the data they collect from transmission operators on natural gas pipeline incidents, a congressional watchdog agency said Wednesday. The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report that the Pipeline and Hazardous …