As the White House’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) takes the reins over the U.S. Digital Service with a mission to modernize Federal technology to improve efficiency and productivity, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is newly reporting that it has over 450 high-risk related recommendations outstanding to fix Fed IT acquisition and management problems that have yet to be acted upon by Federal agencies.
In its Jan. 23 report, GAO said that Federal agencies could be saving millions if they implemented all 1,881 recommendations that the Federal watchdog has provided since 2010. Out of the 69 priority recommendations included in that larger total, only 32 have been implemented as of January 2025.
The largest IT acquisition and management challenges that agencies have yet to address, according to GAO, are strengthening oversight and management of IT portfolios, implementing mature IT acquisition and development practices, and building Federal IT capacity and capabilities.
“Urgent actions are needed to address the ongoing challenges that the government faces in effective and efficient IT acquisition and management,” said GAO. “Until OMB [Office of Management and Budget] and federal agencies take the critical actions identified, they will continue to struggle with IT acquisitions that fail to consistently deliver capabilities in a timely manner, incur cost overruns and/or schedule slippages, and contribute little to mission-related outcomes.”
To address urgent challenges, GAO urged Federal agencies to take nine actions: strengthen IT oversight and management; improve IT leadership effectiveness; enhance strategic planning for systems, applications, and software licenses; boost monitoring and transparency of IT investments; improve IT acquisition planning and budgeting; adopt mature acquisition and development practices; manage emerging technologies; enhance customer service experiences; and build IT capacity.
Additionally, agencies should strengthen cloud services and supply chain management, address workforce challenges, and implement practices to control IT project costs, the watchdog agency said.
Ignoring those recommendations, GAO said, could lead to failure in delivering capabilities in a timely manner, cost overruns and schedule slippages, erosion in public trust, wasted taxpayer dollars, and preventing citizens from getting essential services.
“The federal government is dependent on IT systems to provide essential services that are critical to the health, economy, and defense of the nation,” said GAO. “Given the increasing number of services that the federal government provides to the public by digital means … it is crucial that these services perform as intended to meet citizens’ needs.”
GAO also said that Federal agencies could look to industry chief information officer (CIO) practices to model how agencies could improve their own IT management.
In an executive order issued on Jan. 20, President Trump established DOGE as an executive branch agency through 2026, and at least temporarily rebranded the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) as the U.S. DOGE Service.
While GAO’s report didn’t mention the new agency and how its responsibilities may fit into meeting its recommendations, the U.S. DOGE Service will “commence a Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems,” according to the White House order.
