Limited Review of HUD’s Office of Chief Procurement Officer Pandemic-Related Procurement Accommodations and Challenges

We conducted a limited review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (OCPO) administration of five procurement activities under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act and related Office of Management and Budget memorandums gave HUD flexibility in modifying existing contracts and required rapid delivery of CARES Act funds. Our objective was to determine what HUD had done to accommodate contractors’ pandemic-related issues while ensuring that HUD met its business objectives. In addition, our objective included determining what challenges HUD encountered in procuring and administering its contracts during the pandemic. Based upon a limited review of five COVID-19-related contract transactions and our understanding of the prepandemic controls and policies that HUD had in place, HUD was adequately prepared before the pandemic to accommodate contractors’ pandemic-related issues while ensuring that HUD met its business objectives. Because HUD was adequately prepared, it did not encounter substantial challenges in procuring and administering its contracts. HUD used its existing policies, procedures, and systems to modify contracts to allow contractor accommodations. We did not make any recommendations to HUD.