Around 36,000 schools in the U.S. are in need of updated heating and cooling systems, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Exploring the cosmos makes for happy employees, federal workers like to work from home like everyone else, and an agency that has struggled with low morale is showing improvement.

Congress' official watchdog says in a report that the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump toppled untold numbers of saguaro cactuses in Arizona, put endangered ocelots at risk in Texas and disturbed Native American burial grounds.

Independent federal investigators say the price tag for cleaning up waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory is rising and federal officials need to do more to track costs and progress of the $7 billion effort.

Congressional investigators say airlines themselves are responsible for a rising percentage of canceled flights — more often than before the pandemic, when bad weather was the most common problem.

The U.S. agency in charge of producing key components for the nation's nuclear arsenal has taken another step toward getting equipment installed at a New Mexico laboratory as part of a multibillion-dollar mission.

The U.S. agency in charge of jumpstarting the production of key components for the nation's nuclear arsenal is falling short when it comes to having a comprehensive schedule for the multibillion-dollar project.

Federal data shows a spill from the Keystone pipeline this week dumped enough oil to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool into a northeastern Kansas creek.

The U.S. Secret Service said Friday that it has recovered $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic loans and is returning the money to the Small Business Administration.

Questions posed about the safety of tear gas remain unanswered, even after more than a dozen U.S. senators asked a congressional watchdog to look into the issue.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have been double-billed for the funerals of hundreds of people who died of COVID-19, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report Wednesday.

A new federal report finds that record-keeping failures by the Education Department may have left thousands of Americans stuck with student debt that should have been forgiven.

NASA is kicking off a critical countdown test for its new moon rocket.

There’s no way of knowing if cost increases and missed construction deadlines will continue at the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository.

A federal watchdog says the government's main health agency is failing to meet its responsibilities for leading the national response to public health emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather disasters and even potential bioterrorist attacks.

A federal watchdog says the Trump administration overpaid corn farmers by about $3 billion in federal aid in 2019 and that farmers in the South were paid more for the same crops than elsewhere in the country.

House Democrats are raising concerns that the proposed merger of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia, a $43 billion effort to conquer the world of streaming, could affect diversity efforts in Hollywood and particularly hurt Latinos, who are already deeply underrepresented.

Jeff Bezos has lost his appeal of NASA's contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to build its new moon lander.

(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is quietly ramping up assistance to the Palestinians after former President Donald Trump cut off nearly all aid. AdIn general, the administration supports a resumption in aid to the Palestinians, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Such payments were one reason the Trump administration cut off aid. The GAO based its findings on a review of aid provided to the Palestinians between 2015 and 2019, when Trump severed most of the aid. Soon after President Joe Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20, his administration announced that it would restore relations with the Palestinians and renew aid as key elements of support for a two-state solution to the conflict.

FILE - In this March 6, 2014, file photo, empty nuclear waste shipping containers sit in front of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. Now, fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic is resulting in more challenges as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nation's only underground repository for nuclear waste, finished ramping down operations Wednesday, April 1, 2020, to keep workers safe. The Energy Department has estimated that the repository would need to operate at least another three decades — if not longer — to meet disposal needs. The GAO stated that there are significant risks that could delay the schedule and the Energy Department failed to compensate for the risks by including additional contingency time. The GAO noted that both projects are facing challenges with identifying and overseeing contractors and getting necessary regulatory approvals.

WASHINGTON – A government watchdog has found that the Labor Department’s widely watched weekly unemployment benefits data are providing an inaccurate reading on the number of newly laid off workers because of flaws in the government’s data collection. The Government Accountability Office said in a report Monday that the Labor Department’s weekly report of the number of people filing new applications for unemployment benefits and those receiving continuing claims contained a number of inaccuracies. The report said the weekly data included overestimates and at other times underestimates of the number of people filing for unemployment benefits. The program providing an extra $600 in weekly benefits expired in August. The program to help gig-workers and the self-employed and the extended benefits program are both due to expire at the end of December.

A congressional watchdog found that millions could miss the payments of up to $1,200 per individual because of incomplete government records. A day after cutting off talks with Democratic leaders in Congress over a new COVID-19 relief package, President Donald Trump pressed Wednesday for passage of fresh $1,200 relief checks, among a few other items. Lawmakers on the panel decried the diminished funding for the IRS, now further strained by the pandemic. Delayed income tax refunds, hampered audit and enforcement efforts, and a revenue drain for the Treasury are the results, they said. Trump’s near-zero tax payments have underscored the ability of wealthy individuals with high-priced accountants to outmatch the IRS.

(Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Millions of Americans are in danger of missing coronavirus relief payments of up to $1,200 per individual because of incomplete government records, a government watchdog said in a report issued Monday. But GAO said Treasury and the IRS have still failed to update information on how many eligible recipients have yet to receive funds. The lack of "such information could hinder outreach efforts and place potentially millions of individuals at risk of missing their payment,” the GAO said in its report. The IRS then reported as of July 31 that 5.3 million individuals had used an online IRS tool for nonfilers to help them receive payments. In addition to the problem of missing individuals eligible for the payments, an earlier GAO report found that nearly 1.1 million in coronavirus relief payments totaling some $1.6 billion went to dead people.

WASHINGTON – Companies seeking relief from President Donald Trump’s taxes on imported steel and aluminum ran into long delays and cumbersome paperwork, a federal watchdog found. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that the Commerce Department, overwhelmed by companies lobbying to avoid the tariffs, could not meet its own deadline for processing around three-fourths of the requests. The idea was to strengthen U.S. producers of steel and aluminum by shielding them from foreign competition. About two-thirds of the requests for relief were ultimately approved, GAO found. It also said that Commerce made it more difficult for companies to get exemptions after hearing objections from supporters of the tariffs.

An immigration advocacy group said a federal report concluding two top Department of Homeland Security officials are not legally eligible to serve calls into question the agency's latest guidance on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applicants. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli were also improper because they relied on an amended designation made by Mr. McAleenan, the report notes. Trump announced in 2017 he was ending the DACA program but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that it was improperly terminated and allowed the initiative to continue. The GAOs report has no legal authority but the report authors said the findings are being referred to the DHSs inspector general. In light of this GAO decision, both Wolf and Cuccinelli must resign in disgrace or be removed from their positions immediately.

The VA is not the same VA as four years ago, insisted acting VA deputy secretary Pam Powers, pointing to increased outreach to women and improved trust ratings in the VA from employees and patients alike according to internal polling. His effort seeks to reinforce a call by top Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week for a faster timeline. About 1 in 3 VA employees said they witnessed an act of sexual harassment. Overall, an estimated 26% of female and 14% of male VA employees experienced harassment during the two-year period. A study released by the VA last year found 1 in 4 women veterans using VA health care reported inappropriate comments by male veterans on VA grounds, raising concerns they may delay or miss their treatments.

All rights reserved)Government watchdogs say President Trumps Fourth of July gala in the nations capital last year cost taxpayers more than $13 million, twice as much as previous celebrations. Trumps desire to have Department of Defense military vehicles participate helped drive up the cost, according to the Government Accountability Office. Some other costs, such as for military flyovers of the National Mall, were not included in the estimate, the report said. Trumps military-focused Independence Day event went beyond the traditional concert and fireworks of years past. The GAO estimated that holiday celebrations from 2016 to 2018 cost from $6 million to $7 million annually.