Travel Management Within Federal Government

Travel, essential to the effective administration of Government programs, has been widely perceived as an area of waste and inefficiency. GAO believes that Federal managers have focused too much attention on the accuracy of travel reimbursements after trips are made and not enough on reviewing the need for the trips. Agency officials do not always require managers to comply with Federal travel policies which indicates a lack of commitment to the goal of eliminating unnecessary travel. The cost of administering travel is about 16 percent of the total amount spent on travel. Currently, there are three procedures used for reimbursing employee travel expenses: (1) lodgings-plus, which reimburses employees for the average actual costs of lodging plus a fixed amount for each day of travel; (2) reimbursement of actual costs, used in designated high-rate geographical areas; and (3) flat-rate reimbursement, used for travel of civilian employees in foreign areas. GAO has recommended the adoption of a two-tier lodgings-plus system to simplify the reimbursement process and reduce the administration costs. The Interagency Travel Management Improvement Project has recommended a flat-rate per diem for all travel which would simplify the reimbursement process and reduce administration costs even more. Better data are needed if travel is to be more effectively managed. GAO is concerned about the loose travel authorization procedure used by some agencies. Instructions issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to agencies on controlling travel expenses have often been ignored. Use of first-class accommodations must be justified and approved in writing. A recent sample of travel by high-level noncareer Government officials revealed that this required justification was not included on travel vouchers in more that 75 percent of the cases. In addition, these senior officials used foreign carriers for more than half of the overseas trips they took, contrary to a law requiring Government personnel to use U.S. carriers when they are available. GAO is concerned about imposing unrealistic limitations on the use of funds for one particular purpose, such as travel. GAO would prefer to have OMB, other Government agencies, and Congress focus on desirable program levels through the executive and legislative budget process.