Federal Insider: Report lists 'high risks' needing Trump's attention

Gene Dodaro enjoys rare status.

He’s a general but doesn’t wear a uniform. As the comptroller general of the United States, Dodaro is one of the few top government officials whose work is routinely praised by both parties in Congress.

That’s not just because he heads the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a legislative agency that often is called the congressional watchdog. It’s also not because the soft-spoken Dodaro cuts an impressive figure with his remarkable command of facts that he rattles off without notes at Capitol Hill hearings.

GAO reports are welcome on the Hill, because they give elected officials lots of information for their oversight of federal agencies. Politicians can use that to breathlessly bash their favorite bureaucratic targets with over-the-top oratory that contrasts sharply with GAO’s boring, objective style.

Every two years, at the beginning of a congressional term, GAO provides something for everyone in Congress. It’s the high-risk list that covers serious issues with programs all across the government. This year’s list is almost 700 pages long and is scheduled for release at House and Senate hearings on Wednesday. Much of it is deadly dull but important, nonetheless. Here’s a look.

First the good news.

“Since GAO’s last high-risk update, many of the 32 high-risk areas on the 2015 list have shown solid progress,” the 2017 report says. “Twenty-three high-risk areas, or two-thirds of all the areas, have met or partially met all five criteria for removal from the High-Risk List.”

But that’s not the only way to view it.

“Since the 2015 list, “only one program was removed. Three programs have been added,” Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in remarks prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing. “More concerning, six areas have been listed by GAO as ‘high risk’ since the report’s inception 27 years ago.”

Once an agency gets on the list, it’s not easy to get off. GAO looks at five criteria: leadership commitment, agency capacity, an action plan, monitoring efforts and demonstrated progress.

GAO’s prescription for agency success: “Perseverance by the executive branch in implementing GAO’s recommended solutions and continued oversight and action by Congress are essential to achieving greater progress.”