The federal government's sprawling bureaucracy includes more than 2,600 programs covering $7 trillion in spending, yet the Government Accountability Office's annual duplication report reveals that even this official count is incomplete. Since 2011, GAO has identified overlapping, duplicative, and fragmented programs across agencies, issuing 2,148 recommendations that have already saved taxpayers $774.3 billion. But the report also shows that 486 matters and recommendations remain completely unaddressed, with another 124 only partially acted upon—representing over $100 billion in potential savings left on the table.

The 2026 edition identifies several new opportunities for savings of $10 billion or more. Reclassifying nuclear waste by bringing in outside experts to review the legal definition of high-level radioactive waste could save tens of billions of dollars by reducing cleanup costs at Department of Energy sites. Expanding resource-sharing agreements between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense for medical services like surgery could save tens of millions annually. Consolidating administrative functions like payroll and travel across agencies, filling vacant leadership roles overseeing federal shared services, and improving data collection could prevent duplication and save tens of millions over three years. Developing a government-wide anti-scam strategy coordinated by the FBI—currently fragmented across the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other agencies—would reduce overlapping efforts and improve fraud prevention.

Among the most significant unaddressed recommendations from prior years, the report highlights three major opportunities. Equalizing Medicare payment rates for outpatient services regardless of whether they're billed by a physician's office or hospital-owned department could save $156.9 billion over 10 years. Removing financial incentives that encourage hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program to prescribe more or costlier drugs for Medicare Part B patients could save tens of billions. Reauthorizing FirstNet, the public-safety broadband network for first responders facing a 2027 sunset, would resolve questions affecting roughly $15 billion in scheduled payments over 15 years.

Programs pile up over decades as Congress responds to new priorities without revisiting old ones, the report explains. By the time overlap is identified, it's already written into law and embedded in agency budgets. Past savings demonstrate the scale of what's possible: a 2016 Medicaid policy change alone saved $169.8 billion, while the Office of Management and Budget's Category Management initiative saved $48.8 billion from 2017 to 2021. But GAO's role has been entirely retrospective—catching waste after programs are already created and funded.

That's why Senators Rand Paul and Maggie Hassan, along with Representative Tim Burchett, reintroduced the Duplication Scoring Act of 2025 to shift GAO's role from reactive to proactive. The legislation, which passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in May 2026, would require GAO to screen proposed legislation for potential overlap before bills reach the floor. If GAO identifies duplication, it would notify the relevant committee and the Congressional Budget Office so the information appears in cost estimates. The reform offers Congress a practical tool to stop tomorrow's wasteful duplication before it starts—rather than spending another decade identifying it after the fact.