GAO findings highlight federal government’s ‘pitiful performance,’ Coburn says

After a recent audit found inefficiencies in a program designed to identify unused government properties for possible use by homeless assistance organizations, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said the program has put forth a “pitiful performance.”

Coburn is the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which highlighted the Government Accountability Office (GAO) findings on Tuesday.

“Many taxpayers wonder how so many Americans lack stable housing or are homeless when the federal government spends billions every year on housing assistance,” Coburn said. “This report highlights one reason; and it is not a lack of funds, but rather a lack of efficient management. The federal government wasted time and resources evaluating over 40,000 federal properties for use by homeless assistance providers, but only 122 properties were transferred to homeless groups in 27 years. This pitiful performance demonstrates a clear lack of urgency about the plight of families in need.”

Federal agencies are required to report unused properties to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but the GAO report found that most properties being screened are not viable sources for homeless programs and resources should never have been spent evaluating them.

The GAO, an independent agency that provides investigative services to Congress, suggested that Congress should narrow the scope of properties reported to HUD and reduce reporting requirements.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) said those common-sense steps are not enough.

“Last year, Dr. Coburn and I introduced legislation that would help reduce waste and inefficiency by requiring all federal agencies to not only maintain a comprehensive inventory of their properties, but to also take a hard look at which assets they actually need and which could be sold or put to better use, including properties that could help some of our nation’s most vulnerable,” Carper said. “I will continue to work with my colleagues and the (Obama) administration to improve our federal property management practices, including passing this legislation.”