Summary: In 1989 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with federal agencies, identified 106 areas in which the government was at high risk for waste, fraud, and abuse. OMB's program to strengthen federal management in these high risk areas has provided top-level government officials with a much needed focus for correcting deficiencies. Further, reporting the status of agency accomplishments in each high risk area in the President's budget will help ensure continued high visibility and attention to correcting existing problems. Although most information presented in the budget appears reasonable and accurate, the progress reported in several areas is misleading or overly optimistic. Furthermore, the budget does not disclose the existence of continuing material weaknesses in some high risk areas deleted from the list. No OMB staff work solely on the program and OMB's Management Integrity Branch, which directs the program's day-to-day operations, often rotates its staff among high risk areas. Because of these staff changes, documenting key events and agreements becomes critical to track and evaluate agency progress in correcting program shortcomings. GAO discovered, however, that records of meetings and agreements with agency officials and OMB evaluation of agency-provided information were often unavailable.
