GAO: Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Homeland Security

In June 2023, GAO identified 42 priority recommendations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS has implemented 16 of those recommendations leading to improvements in the National Flood Insurance Program, disaster response and recovery, noncitizen processing at the southwest border, CBP protection of U.S. trade revenue, the strategy to counter violent extremism, TSA’s assessment of pipeline risks, and cybersecurity and IT management, among other areas.

In August 2024, GAO identified 11 additional priority recommendations for DHS, bringing the total number to 37. One recommendation is related to training special agents of the U.S. Secret Service. The remaining 36 recommendations fall into the following seven areas:

• Emergency preparedness and response,
• Border security,
• Countering violent extremism and domestic terrorism,
• Domestic intelligence and information sharing,
• Information technology and cybersecurity,
• Chemical security, and
• Infrastructure, acquisition, and management.

DHS’s continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.

Access the report here.

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