Waste reports get little attention from Congress

THE saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but can’t make him drink,” may now have a modern corollary: You can identify government waste, but you can’t make politicians do anything about it.

This sad reality is evident — again — with release of the federal Government Accountability Office’s eighth annual report on wasteful government spending. The report focuses on instances of fragmentation, duplication and overlap at federal agencies.

This year’s report identifies 68 new examples of waste and duplication. Among the more glaring problems identified is that the Department of Defense could save approximately $527 million over five years by improving management of its network of distribution centers used to store troop support goods. The GAO found 256 of the department’s centers are close to other distribution centers, and just 91 centers account for 95 percent of the network’s total workload. This waste is especially egregious since it comes at the expense of much-needed military equipment upgrades, among other things.

But the biggest takeaway from the report is that the federal government has yet to address much of the waste identified in the eight reports issued by the GAO. Of the 724 recommendations made from 2011 to 2017, the report notes, Congress and executive branch agencies have fully or partially addressed only 551.

“GAO estimates that tens of billions of additional dollars could be saved should Congress and executive branch agencies fully address the remaining 365 open actions, including the 68 new ones identified in 2018,” a summary document states.

At a congressional hearing last week, Rep. Steve Russell, R-Choctaw, referenced the lack of action on those cost-saving ideas, noting that three agencies account for much of the continued waste.

“We can save billions more by taking actions at just three agencies: the Department of Defense, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services,” Russell said. “Through GAO’s annual reports, more than half of all corrective actions have been directed at these three agencies. Yet all three have more than 40 percent of recommended actions still open.”

Russell has been a vocal critic of government waste throughout his congressional career, issuing quarterly “waste watch” reports that highlight some of the most egregious examples. As they say, sunlight is usually the best disinfectant for government abuses, so Russell’s effort to bring public scrutiny upon waste is still one of the best ways to curtail its existence.

Yet the GAO report shows that many government officials still seem incapable of shame when it comes to squandering taxpayer money. Congress must be proactive and change those attitudes. As the GAO report notes, “The federal government faces an unsustainable long-term fiscal path based on an imbalance between federal revenue and spending, primarily driven by health care spending and net interest on the debt. Addressing this imbalance will require long-term changes to both spending and revenue and difficult fiscal policy decisions. Significant action to mitigate this imbalance must be taken soon to minimize the disruption to individuals and the economy.”

The GAO’s reports are an invaluable service. But so long as federal lawmakers refuse to act in response, the reports won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on.