WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The report explored the process by which the Secretary of State designates FTOs, the extent to which the State Department considers input from other US government agencies during the designation process as well as the consequences that US agencies impose as a result of a FTO designation.
“GAO was asked to review the FTO designation process. [However] GAO is not making recommendations in this report,” the Office concluded in its assessment, which was released on Thursday.
The GAO explained that the State Department has developed a six-step process for designating foreign terrorist organization.
“As of June 1, 2015, 59 organizations were designated as FTOs,” it said.
US agencies reported enforcing FTO designations through three key legal consequences — blocking assets, prosecuting individuals and imposing immigration restrictions, the report said.
The US Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.
