Portman Calls for Action Following GAO Report on Government Waste and Inefficiencies

Statement

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today released the following statement regarding the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) 2015 annual report on duplication, overlap, and fragmented responsibilities in the federal government. The GAO report identifies 24 areas of concern that waste billions of taxpayer dollars every year and impair the government's ability to fulfill its obligations in important areas. Between 2011 and 2014, GAO identified 188 wasteful spending areas, of which only 37 percent have been addressed.

"GAO has done its job finding the waste, now it's time for Congress and the President to do their jobs and get rid of it," Portman said. "There is no excuse for failing to act on GAO's recommendations. Billions of dollars in taxpayer money wasted is bad enough, but when you have eight different agencies responsible for consumer product safety, no one knows who is responsible for what, and important work is left undone. We need to use this GAO report as a wake-up call and roll up our sleeves and work together on commonsense fixes to ensure that government is operating as efficiently and as effectively as possible for taxpayers."

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