Which government programs does the Government Accountability Office consider inefficient?
In its 2025 review, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified 38 federal programs as highly susceptible to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.
Thirty-eight government spending priorities are considered highly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, according to the latest list from the independent and nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO provides unbiased, fact-based information to save taxpayers money and encourage government efficiency. Since 1990, it has produced a list of federal programs at high risk for financial issues and in need of reform.
Which government programs are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement?
Of the 38 programs included on the list, 28 have been designated as high-risk for at least 10 years. Five programs have been on the list since its first iteration in 1990.
The 2025 list included one new area of spending: improving the delivery of federal disaster assistance.
No programs were removed from the list. According to the GAO, none made progress toward sound management.
The GAO identified 38 programs as high risk in 2025.
How does the GAO identify wasteful government programs?
The GAO evaluates a range of factors before classifying a federal program as a high risk. The program must pose a risk to the nation's public health or safety, service delivery, national security or defense, economic growth, or citizens’ rights. Programs that risk losing at least $1 billion may also be included.
To decide whether a program can come off the list, the GAO looks at five criteria for improvement:
- Commitment from necessary leadership to improve
- Adequate staffing and funding to remedy the issues
- An action plan
- A process for monitoring progress
- Evidence that the people and agencies involved are demonstrating progress
For each release, the GAO uses these criteria to determine if programs have improved or regressed. In 2025, 10 programs improved, but none were deemed to have improved enough to be removed from the list.
Which government areas are considered the most wasteful?
The GAO called out five specific areas in particular need of attention:
- Reducing billions in significant improper payments and fraud
- Closing large gaps in revenue owed to the government
- Better controlling cost growth and schedule delays in high dollar value procurements
- Rightsizing the government’s property holdings to generate savings
- Achieving greater financial management discipline at the Department of Defense (DoD).
Who is responsible for reforming inefficient programs?
The list serves as a call for Congressional and agency action. Many government agencies are partially or entirely responsible for some of the listed programs.
The Department of Defense is explicitly referenced most often. Five of the 38 programs include DoD in their name; four of those have been on the list since at least 1995.
Is the government getting more or less efficient?
Along with listing the inefficient programs, the GAO list offers a glimpse into how Congress is addressing identified problem areas. This is just one way to measure government inefficiency, though it doesn't take into account overall risk levels or financial losses.
The 1990 list identified 14 high-risk programs. Since then, 54 more programs have been added; 29 were later removed when the GAO determined that they’d made adequate progress.
The 2025 list matched its peak of 38 programs, which also occurred in 2022.
The GAO’s high-risk list has grown from 14 in 1990 to 38 in 2025.
Number of high-risk programs by year
The GAO estimates that the government saved $84 billion between 2023 and 2025 from Congressional and agency action to address high-risk areas.
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