Federal Manager's Daily Report

Of 24 large DHS acquisition programs, only 10 are on track to meet their cost and schedule goals, GAO has said, while six have problems with delays, two have problems with cost increases and the rest have problems with both.

Those programs are among about 70 that each account for more than $300 million of the more than $207 billion DHS spends annually on items ranging from computers to passenger screening equipment and from airplanes to icebreaker ships.

Top reasons for delays, increased costs or changes in goals included changes in capabilities requirements, technical challenges, and the need for more contractor support.

GAO’s recommendations include better defining goals for acquisitions–it said for example that DHS “plans to acquire 38 total aircraft of various configurations but has not yet defined what some of the aircraft are supposed to be capable of doing–making more use of the lessons learned from post-purchase reviews, and better sharing of that information across components.