One agency supplied nearly four-fifths of the reviewed dollars
The Economic Development Administration and five regional commissions awarded $12.027 billion from fiscal 2016 through 2024, according to GAO’s October 7 report. What’s the Scoop With Broach divided the table totals and found EDA supplied $9.441 billion, or 78.5%.
Annual awards rose from $521 million in 2016 to $1.577 billion in 2024 and peaked at $3.731 billion in 2022 during the period of pandemic supplemental funding. The number of awards rose from 1,253 to 1,434, an increase of 14.4%.
The nominal values may include money later rescinded, terminated or deobligated and are not inflation-adjusted. GAO said the broad trend remains when adjusting for inflation, but the table is not a cash-spending ledger.
| Measure | Amount | Share/change |
|---|---|---|
| EDA awards | $9.441 billion | 78.5% of $12.027 billion |
| All reviewed entities, 2016 | $521 million | — |
| All reviewed entities, 2024 | $1.577 billion | +202.7% nominal |
| Grant count | 1,253 to 1,434 | +14.4% |
The validation gap applies to claimed results, not the existence of awards
GAO found that EDA had not systematically validated key performance-measure data since 2020. It also found the Denali Commission lacked guidance for standardized, objective and measurable performance data across grants.
Economic conditions such as poverty and unemployment generally improved in commission areas, and selected grantees described benefits. GAO could not attribute those changes to the grants. The absence of causal proof is not proof that projects had no value.
EDA also lacked a comprehensive framework for coordinating with regional commissions, despite a statutory coordination requirement. Arrangements ranged from formal agreements to little or no project-level coordination.
Three open fixes and important geography limits
GAO recommended that EDA resume validating grantee data and create a coordination framework, and that Denali establish performance-data procedures. Both entities agreed; the three recommendations were open at publication.
GAO’s county maps excluded 39.5% of 2016 grants and 24% of 2024 grants because awards covered multiple counties or lacked location data. This report therefore uses the national table for dollar calculations and does not rank counties.
Sources and further reading
GAO-27-108496 report page and recommendations — October 7, 2026 ↗