Page 1 GAO-25-108042 Priority Recommendations
Comptroller General
of the United States
June 2, 2025
The Honorable Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1000
Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Defense
Dear Secretary Hegseth:
Congratulations on your appointment. The purpose of this letter is to call your personal attention
to five areas based on GAO’s past work and 79 open priority recommendations, which are
enclosed.
1
Additionally, there are 1,280 other GAO open recommendations that we will continue
to work with your staff to address.
We are highlighting the following areas that warrant your timely and focused attention.
Specifically:
Sustaining U.S. Readiness and Competitive Advantage Over Adversaries. The Department
of Defense (DOD) has not fully addressed all challenges associated with rebuilding and
maintaining readiness and force structure. This includes addressing challenges in (1) better
managing its costliest weapon acquisitions programs and contracts, (2) improving protection of
the department’s networks from cyberattacks and other malicious activity, and (3) executing
defense missions.
Many of these issues are on our High-Risk List. For example, related to DOD Weapon Systems
Acquisition, we have made recommendations for DOD to address remaining challenges in the
areas of acquisition policy and oversight, software development and cybersecurity, the defense
industrial base, and innovation investments. We have also recommended that DOD define a
science and technology management framework that includes emphasizing greater use of
existing flexibilities to initiate and discontinue projects more quickly to respond to the rapid pace
of innovation.
Related to DOD Contract Management, we have called for DOD to take several actions to
address challenges with service acquisitions and operational contract support. For example, we
have recommended that DOD specify the data sources and methodology for forecasting budget
needs for service contracts as part of budget submissions to improve decision-making and
oversight.
1
GAO considers a recommendation to be a priority if, when implemented, it 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.
