GAO flagged rising improper-payment rates tied to reduced inspector general staffing — documenting how oversight vacancies weaken fraud recovery ahead of major procurement pushes.

Multiple agency IG offices faced staffing reviews and report publication delays — narrowing independent oversight of procurement fraud and ethics violations documented in prior GAO findings.

Federal spending portals narrowed machine-readable lobbying and contract metadata fields — reducing public ability to cross-reference vendor payments with rulemaking commenters.

OGE extended financial disclosure filing deadlines for senior appointees — reducing real-time visibility into executive branch conflicts of interest during agency rulemaking pushes.