Summary

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO evaluated the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts regarding unallowable contract costs.

GAO found that: (1) DOD has made significant efforts to comply with congressional intent by prescribing new and amended cost principles within the prescribed time period; (2) while allowability criteria cannot always be written in such a manner as to remove all ambiguity, DOD has directly addressed the allowability of certain costs; and (3) DOD could still improve provisions regarding entertainment and lobbying costs.