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GAO-24-107307 1 (2024-06-06)

handle is hein.gao/gaoqna0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Comptroller General Washington, DC 20548 of the United States June 6, 2024 The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250 Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Agriculture Dear Secretary Vilsack: The purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the overall status of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) implementation of GAO's recommendations and to call your continued personal attention to areas where open recommendations should be given high priority.1 In November 2023, we reported that, on a government-wide basis, 75 percent of our recommendations made 4 years ago were implemented.2 USDA's recommendation implementation rate was 82 percent. As of May 2024, USDA had 109 open recommendations. Fully implementing these open recommendations could significantly improve agency operations. I appreciate your leadership and commitment to strengthening USDA's efforts to implement our recommendations, including the continued use of a working group to address priority and other open recommendations. Since our May 2023 letter, USDA has implemented five of our 12 open priority recommendations. * In October 2023, USDA provided updated policies and procedures that address coordination between cybersecurity risk management and enterprise risk management functions, as we recommended in July 2019.3 Specifically, the updated policies and procedures describe USDA's enterprise risk management program, including the elevation of cybersecurity risks, which involves every USDA mission area and staff office. By taking these steps, USDA is better positioned to address significant cybersecurity risks in the context of other risks, and their potential impacts on the mission of the agency. * In July 2023, USDA updated procedures for its risk management process that specify the roles of the senior agency official for privacy and other officials in key risk management 1Priority 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. 2GAO, Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2023, GAO-24-900483 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2023). 3GAO, Cybersecurity: Agencies Need to Fully Establish Risk Management Programs and Address Challenges, GAO- 19-384 (Washington, D.C.: July 25, 2019). GAO-24-107307 USDA Priority Open Recommendations Page 1

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