Seventy-nine of the high-risk projects, totaling about $2.2 billion in planned outlays, were classified by agencies as suffering from performance shortfalls, the report said.

The GAO recommended that the OMB order agencies to consistently apply its criteria for designating projects as high risk and establish "a structured, consistent process" for updating project data. It also called on the OMB to create a unified list of high-risk projects and their deficiencies.

But Evans, whose official title is OMB administrator for e-government and IT, was adamant in her response that the GAO's suggestions were based on inaccurate assumptions and interpretations. Evans, who also is the director of the federal Chief Information Officers Council, added that the GAO's report contradicted itself on the need for the OMB to provide agencies with further guidance on identifying high-risk projects.

"The report incorrectly implies agencies will not be able to oversee their own projects without additional guidance on this narrowly focused process, when in fact the report itself suggests agencies are using this policy as an opportunity to improve their internal oversight," she said.

Evans also disputed the need for an aggregated list of high-risk projects, noting that the OMB uses the reports from agencies "in the larger context of [its] budget and program oversight processes."