Federal Reports

What We Looked AtWe performed a quality control review (QCR) on the single audit that Accuity LLP performed for the Highways Division, Department of Transportation for the State of Hawaii’s (HIDOT) fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021. During this period, HIDOT expended approximately $226.5 million from U.S. Department of Transportation programs. Accuity determined that DOT’s major programs were the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Planning and Construction Cluster, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Alcohol Open Container Requirements program. Our QCR objectives were to determine whether (1) the audit work complied with the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended and the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance, and the extent to which we could rely on the auditor’s work on DOT’s major programs and (2) HIDOT’s reporting package complied with the reporting requirements of the Uniform Guidance. What We FoundAccuity complied with the requirements of the Single Audit Act, the Uniform Guidance, and DOT’s major programs. We found nothing to indicate that Accuity’s opinion on DOT’s major programs was inappropriate or unreliable. However, we identified deficiencies that require correction in future audits. Accordingly, we assigned Accuity an overall rating of pass with deficiencies.

The owner of a company contracted to do work for Amtrak signed a pre-trial diversion agreement on May 8, 2023, in Marion County Superior Court, Indiana. Our investigation found that the contractor stole two train horns from the Beech Grove Maintenance Facility and later sold them to individuals he met on various train-related internet sites and online forums. The contractor agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution, including $4,750 to the company.

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) provided general guidance and technical assistance for State educational agencies (SEA), to assist them in implementing significant disproportionality regulatory requirements. OSEP also performed ongoing monitoring of SEAs’ compliance with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requirements and program results. However, we determined that OSEP has not performed a risk assessment to determine if the change in the regulation affects the control activities that it has established for monitoring significant disproportionality, particularly regarding data reliability.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) met all requirements of the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Agency Financial Report and accompanying materials.

Evaluation of the SEC’s FY 2022 Compliance With the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, Report No. 578

The Office of Special Operations (OSO), part of the Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security, is authorized to provide protective measures for the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) through its executive protection mission. On September 29, 2021, the Office of Inspector General Hotline received an allegation that members of the Secretary’s protective detail, OSO agents, misused their positions. Specifically, the complainant alleged that protective detail agents upgraded airline flights to first and business class while the Secretary sat in economy class, used tobacco products in Government-owned vehicles (GOVs), and operated GOVs for personal use. We initiated this inspection to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegation concerning the misuse of position within the Secretary’s protective detail.We did not substantiate the allegation that members of the Secretary’s protective detail misused their positions. While we substantiated that members of the Secretary’s detail did not follow procedures pertaining to two of the three examples in the allegation, we do not believe that it was a misuse of their position. Specifically, we found that OSO protective detail agents upgraded airline seats to first or business class while the Secretary, the principal whom they were protecting, sat in economy class on 2 of 10 trips reviewed. We also found that protective detail agents used tobacco products in GOVs. However, we did not substantiate the allegation regarding the agents’ personal use of GOVs. We also identified a potential ethics violation. Specifically, it appeared that the OSO Director accepted a ticket or tickets to an athletic event from a private industry official. Although the Director stated that he did not use the tickets, it appeared to us, and likely to the official, that the Director did accept the gift, thereby creating the appearance of violating 5 Code of Federal Regulations 2635.202, General prohibition on solicitation or acceptance of gifts.The issues we identified occurred, in part, because the Secretary’s travel practices made it difficult to ensure that an agent was in the same class as the Secretary, and agents did not take supervisory direction seriously. This report contains three recommendations that, if fully implemented, should help ensure that the issues identified are corrected. Management agreed with our findings and recommendations, and its corrective actions, taken and planned, are consistent with our recommendations.