CBP, DHS Made Some Progress in Eliminating Waste, More Work To Be Done, Says GAO
CBP’s delay in funding future border surveillance technology and the agency’s clarification of unobligated user fee account balances helped the Department of Homeland Security’s progress to streamline programs, reduce waste and cut costs, but much more work remains to be done, according to a Government Accountability Office report released April 26. Since 2011, GAO has recommended 42 steps DHS should take to eliminate fragmentation, overlap and high costs. The April 26 report said that five of those steps have been addressed, 24 have been “partially addressed,” meaning at least one action needed in that area showed some progress, but not all actions were addressed. Thirteen of the steps have not been addressed at all.
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One of the steps GAO recommended was for Congress to clarify the purpose of the $639.4 million in unobligated balances from customs fee collections. The balance remained in CBP’s Customs User Fee Account for more than 10 years, the report said. CBP fully addressed that issue, according to GAO. The agency only partially addressed another GAO recommendation: Delaying proposed investments for future acquisitions of border surveillance technology “until DHS better defines and measures benefits and estimates life-cycle costs.” The delay could ensure the most effective use of program funds, GAO said. CBP requested $242 million to fund the new plan in fiscal year 2012, the report said.
Another of GAO’s recommendations was for the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to fully align fees with program costs. The changes would reduce the reliance on CBP’s annual Salaries and Expenses appropriations used for agricultural inspection services, and could have saved USDA as much as $325 million, GAO said. Because this step was outlined in a 2013 report, GAO has not yet assessed its progress.
For DHS as a whole, GAO said the Department needs to validate required acquisition documents “in a timely manner,” and show tangible progress in meeting cost, schedule and performance metrics for major acquisition programs. DHS should also expand its governance structure designed to improve information technology management, the report said. Other GAO recommendations include: better cybersecurity coordination, elimination of potential duplicating efforts to secure the northern border and more efficient baggage screening systems.