DOGE’s IT modernization work could start with GAO report
As Elon Musk’s DOGE begins carrying out its mandate to modernize federal IT and identify inefficiencies, the Government Accountability Office this week provided a playbook for where the newly revamped White House office could start.
In a report released Thursday, the GAO said that 463 of its 1,881 IT-related recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget and agencies since 2010 haven’t been addressed, creating challenges for the federal government in “effectively acquiring IT and managing IT projects.”
Additionally, the GAO said that 32 of its 69 priority recommendations for government IT over the same time period have also not been enacted. “If the agencies fully implement all recommendations that have not yet been implemented,” the watchdog said, “we estimate they could potentially achieve hundreds of millions in savings.”
Given the federal government’s more than $100 billion annual spend on IT and the heavy reliance agencies have on those systems to carry out their missions, the GAO has designated IT management a “high-risk” area. Failed IT investments, cost overruns and “schedule slippages” were also cited by the GAO as reasons for the high-risk designation.
Weeks after President Donald Trump’s election, Musk railed against many of those government IT-related issues in a post on his X platform, saying that he would take on the role of “Volunteer IT Consult” to fix IT infrastructure “in order to make government work.”
“This is a grind & hardly glorious, but we can’t make government efficient & fix the deficit if the computers don’t work,” Musk said.
An executive order from Trump this week charged DOGE — which is absorbing the U.S. Digital Service — with leading an initiative “to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems.”
The GAO report spells out areas that are especially ripe for any DOGE work on IT modernization, starting with strengthening the oversight and management of federal IT portfolios.
Under that umbrella, the watchdog would like to see improved effectiveness of the federal chief information officer, agency CIOs, agency chief AI officers and other key IT leaders, as well as enhanced agency efforts to plan for and manage IT systems, applications, software licenses and existing operations.
Additionally, the GAO recommends improved monitoring of and transparency into the performance of federal IT investments, and better planning and budgeting for IT acquisitions and services.
The GAO also carved out a pair of recommendations under the challenge of “implementing mature IT acquisition and development practices.” The first is to more effectively plan and manage IT project schedules, costs, requirements, risks and testing, while the second is to bolster the planning and management of cloud services, telecommunications services and supply chains.
Finally, the watchdog highlighted the issues faced in building federal IT capacity and capabilities, problems that could be addressed by addressing management challenges with the tech-savvy workforce, improvements in customer experience with digital services and pursuing more effective management of emerging technologies.
“Until OMB and federal agencies take the critical actions we identified, they will continue to struggle with IT acquisitions that fail to consistently deliver capabilities in a timely manner, incur cost overruns and/or schedule slippages, and contribute little to mission-related outcomes,” the GAO wrote. “The federal government will also be challenged in maximizing the benefits from its substantial investment in IT.”
