GAO Study Cites Ongoing Waste in Government

WASHINGTON — Despite pressure to improve accounting systems, federal agencies continue to handle money in ways that waste billions of dollars, a report to Congress said Monday.

“Serious internal control problems continue in a wide range of areas, such as weapons systems procurement, Social Security, debt collection, property management and automated data processing,” the General Accounting Office report said.

“Weaknesses and breakdowns in agency systems of internal control frequently result in wasteful spending, poor management and losses totaling billions of dollars,” the GAO said.

The report was made under a 1982 law that requires federal agency managers to identify problems that can lead to fraud, waste or abuses in government operations.