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GAO-25-108460 1 (July 28, 2025)

handle is hein.gao/cifimion0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G A O US GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. NW Washington, DC 20548 July 28, 2025 Mr. Antoine McCord Chief Information Officer Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 Chief Information Officer Open Recommendations: Department of Homeland Security Dear Mr. McCord: I am writing to you with respect to your role as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress, GAO's mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government. Our work includes investigating matters related to the use of public funds, evaluating programs and activities of the U.S. Government at the request of congressional committees and subcommittees or on the initiative of the Comptroller General, and as required by public laws or committee reports. Our duties include reporting our findings and recommending ways to increase economy and efficiency in government spending. The purpose of this letter is to provide an overview of the open, publicly available GAO recommendations to DHS that call for the attention of the CIO. We identified recommendations that relate to the CIO's roles and responsibilities in effectively managing IT. They include strategic planning, investment management, and information security. We have previously reported on the significance of the CIO's role in improving the government's performance in IT and related information management functions.1 Your attention to these recommendations will help ensure the secure and effective use of IT at the department. Currently, DHS has 43 open recommendations that call for the attention of the CIO, including 15 that are relevant to component-level ClOs. Each of these recommendations relates to a GAO High- Risk area: (1) Ensuring the Cybersecurity of the Nation, (2) Improving IT Acquisitions and Management, or (3) Strengthening DHS IT and Financial Management Functions.2 In addition, GAO has designated seven of the 43 as priority recommendations.3 Fully implementing these open recommendations could significantly improve DHS's ability to deter threats and manage its critical systems, operations, and information. I have summarized selected recommendations here. See 1See for example, GAO, Federal Chief Information Officers: Critical Actions Needed to Address Shortcomings and Challenges in Implementing Responsibilities, GAO-18-93 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 2, 2018). 2GAO, High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government Efficiency and Effectiveness, GAO-25-107743 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2025). 3Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operations, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue. Since 2015, GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations. GAO-25-108460 DHS CIO Recommendations Page 1

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