DHS Annual Assessment: Most Acquisition Programs are Meeting Goals but Data Provided to Congress Lacks Context Needed for Effective Oversight

Abstract

DHS plans to spend more than $7 billion on its portfolio of major acquisition programs - with life-cycle costs over $300 million - in fiscal year 2021 to help execute its many critical missions. The Explanatory Statement accompanying the DHS Appropriations Act, 2015, included a provision for GAO to review DHS's major acquisitions on an ongoing basis. This report, GAO's sixth review, assesses the extent to which (1) DHS's major acquisition programs are meeting baseline goals, (2) DHS's guidance for developing acquisition documentation is consistent with DHS acquisition policy, and (3) DHS is reporting relevant information to Congress on its portfolio of major acquisition programs. GAO assessed 24 acquisition programs, including DHS's largest programs that were in the process of obtaining new capabilities as of April 2018, and programs GAO or DHS identified as at risk of poor outcomes. GAO assessed cost and schedule progress against baselines; assessed DHS's congressional reporting requirements; and interviewed DHS officials and congressional appropriations committee staff.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1147474

Entities

People

  • Alexandra D. Silva
  • Alexandra Gebhard
  • Alexis Olson
  • Andrea Evans
  • Anne L. Taylor
  • Ashley Rawson
  • Betsy Gregory-hosler
  • Bonita J. Oden
  • Charlie Iii Shivers
  • Claire Li
  • Erin Butkowski
  • John Crawford
  • Kerry Burgott
  • Lorraine Ettaro
  • Marie A. Mak
  • Mathew Bader
  • Natalie Logan
  • Rick Cederholm
  • Robin Wilson
  • Shannin Oneil
  • Stephanie Gustafson

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Cyber
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Authentication
  • Biometric Security
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Covid-19
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Employment
  • Engineers
  • Homeland Security
  • Identification Systems
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting