The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sounded off again about the ability of other federal government agencies to respond to future crises and pandemics, arguing that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not forged a comprehensive assessment mechanism to account for the associated medical countermeasure production needs. However, GAO also remarked that HHS does not have a dedicated funding mechanism to finance these activities, a resource that might not become available until after HHS officials draft a budget for the activities associated with such efforts for congressional review.