GAO Says OMB and Agencies Still Have Gaps in Federal Performance Requirements
The Government Accountability Office says the Office of Management and Budget and selected federal agencies have not fully addressed new requirements intended to strengthen how the government sets goals, reviews strategy and documents performance.
In a report dated June 30, 2026, GAO said OMB’s August 2025 guidance did not address all statutory requirements for strategic reviews. The review also examined whether selected agencies had met requirements for conducting those reviews under the federal performance-management framework related to the Federal Performance and Results Act.
The findings do not amount to a criminal determination or a finding of fraud. They identify gaps in implementation and compliance that could make it harder for Congress and the public to evaluate whether federal programs are meeting their stated goals.
What GAO reviewed
GAO assessed OMB’s implementation of new government-wide performance requirements and examined how selected agencies addressed strategic-review requirements. The audit work ran from May 2025 through June 2026.
The report’s central finding is that OMB’s August 2025 guidance did not cover every statutory requirement for strategic reviews. GAO also found that selected agencies had not fully addressed the requirements examined by the auditors.
The source material does not provide the full number of agencies reviewed or the complete list of recommendations. It also does not establish that every federal agency failed to comply. The degree of implementation may differ from one agency to another.
GAO is an oversight arm of Congress, and its reports are designed to identify problems in federal management and recommend corrective action. In this case, the report concerns whether agencies are following a government-wide performance system, not whether a particular program should automatically be canceled or lose funding.
Why the gaps matter
Performance-management requirements are meant to give agencies a consistent way to set objectives, assess progress and revisit strategies. Strategic reviews can help officials determine whether existing goals remain appropriate and whether agencies have documented what they are learning from performance data.
When those reviews or the guidance governing them are incomplete, oversight becomes more difficult. Congress may have less complete information when examining agency results, while the public may have fewer clear records for judging how programs are performing.
For people affected by federal services, grants and programs, the report does not announce an immediate change to eligibility, funding or service delivery. Its significance is administrative and institutional: GAO is warning that the processes used to measure and explain federal performance have not yet fully caught up with the new requirements.
GAO’s topic page listed the June 30 letter as publicly released July 1, 2026. The report was produced after more than a year of audit work, beginning in May 2025 and continuing through June 2026.
Broader accountability context
The performance-management report is separate from another GAO report published Jan. 5, 2026, on federal awards. In that review, GAO found that four of five selected federal award programs did not fully include identified practices intended to improve oversight and fraud prevention. Those programs covered about $227 billion in federal funding, and GAO made 12 recommendations to four agencies.
That earlier report does not establish fraud in the performance-management review. It does, however, show the broader range of management and oversight issues GAO has been examining in federal programs. The current report focuses on performance requirements, strategic reviews and OMB guidance.
What happens next
The next accountability steps are GAO’s recommendations and corrective actions by OMB and the agencies covered by the review. The approved report summary does not provide a deadline for completing those actions or the full count of recommendations.
Further progress will depend on whether OMB updates its guidance to address the remaining statutory requirements and whether agencies complete the strategic-review work identified by GAO. Until then, the report leaves a clear oversight question for Congress and the public: whether federal agencies can consistently document their goals, strategies and results under the newer performance-management requirements.
Sources
- Government Performance Management: OMB and Selected Agencies Need to Fully Address New Requirements, U.S. Government Accountability Office
- Auditing and Financial Management, U.S. Government Accountability Office
- Federal Awards: Selected Programs Did Not Fully Include Identified Practices to Enhance Oversight and Fraud Prevention, U.S. Government Accountability Office
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