Corrective Action Verification Government Purchase Card Program and Government Travel Card Program Audit Recommendations

We completed a corrective action verification (CAV) of recommendations from prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit reports on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) government purchase cards and government travel cards, both issued January 31, 2020. During our CAV, we followed up on all 10 recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0001 and all 13 recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0002. Our CAV objective was to determine whether HUD implemented adequate corrective actions in response to the recommendations. Corrective actions were not fully implemented or completed for 2 of 10 recommendations from audit report 2020-KC-0001 and 3 of 13 recommendations from audit report 2020-KC-0002. The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) did not fully implement the agreed-upon corrective action plans because (1) responsibilities for the corrective actions transferred to three separate offices in less than 1 year and there were insufficient resources to complete the planned actions and (2) management later decided to change corrective action plans due to reporting difficulties, reluctance to collect information regarding disciplinary actions, and the timing of union negotiations. However, OCPO and OCFO closed the recommendations without revising the management decisions or fully implementing or completing the corrective actions. As a result, HUD lacked assurance that the agency used efficient and effective techniques to prevent or detect inappropriate use of government purchase and travel cards. Specifically, HUD could not ensure that disciplinary actions were performed when inappropriate use of government purchase and travel cards was detected or a consistent method was implemented for reviewing and analyzing (1) training records and (2) data for split transactions and appropriate methods of payment.  We recommend that HUD submit a revised management decision to address the recommendation and fully implement those actions for two recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0001 (2020-KC-0001-001A and 002A) and three recommendations from OIG audit report 2020-KC-0002 (2020-KC-0002-001A, 001D, and 002C).