Federal Reports

For our final report on our evaluation of the Office of the Secretary’s (OS’) incident response program, our objective was to assess the adequacy of actions taken by the U.S. Department of Commerce (the Department) and its bureaus when detecting and responding to cyber incidents in accordance with federal and Departmental requirements. Overall, we identified fundamental deficiencies in OS’ cybersecurity incident response program that increased the risk of successful cyberattacks. Specifically, we found the following: I. OS Security Operations Center’s (OS SOC)’s security tools were not properly configured to detect incidents; II. OS SOC did not effectively handle a simulated incident; and III. OS’ Office of the Chief Information Officer did not manage its incident detection and response program in accordance with federal requirements.

For our final report on our audit of the U.S. Census Bureau’s (the Bureau’s) working capital fund (WCF) for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020, our audit objective was to determine whether budgetary controls over the WCF are adequate including whether the Bureau (1) appropriately determines its rates (including overhead charges), (2) appropriately accounts for advances and carryover balances, and (3) equitably distributes costs to the Bureau’s customers in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policy. We contracted with Ollie Green & Company (OG&C)—an independent certified public accounting firm—to perform this audit in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and contract terms. Our office oversaw the progress of this audit; however, OG&C is solely responsible for the attached report and conclusions expressed in it.

The U.S. Postal Service processes international mail to more than 180 countries throughout the world. The Postal Service encounters situations where mail service to foreign countries must be suspended due to lack of transportation, COVID-19 concerns, or other unrelated disruptions.Our objective was to evaluate the Postal Service’s international mail service suspension-related operations. We reviewed applicable policies and procedures and observed operations at the four Postal Service International Service Centers.

What We Looked AtWe queried and downloaded 60 single audit reports prepared by non-Federal auditors and submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse between October 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022, to identify significant findings related to programs directly funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT).What We FoundWe found that reports contained a range of findings that impacted DOT programs. The auditors reported 20 incidents of significant noncompliance with Federal guidelines related to 12 grantees that require prompt action from DOT's Operating Administrations (OA). Of these 20 incidents, 11 were repeat findings related to 6 grantees. The auditors also identified questioned costs totaling $5,538,037 for four grantees. Of this amount, $3,703,195 was related to the Joint Programs of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, and $1,787,378 was related to the Navajo Nation. Additionally, we identified nonmonetary repeat findings that caused qualified opinions for Joint Programs of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, the County of San Joaquin, California, and the State of Mississippi.RecommendationsWe recommend that DOT coordinate with the impacted OAs to develop a corrective action plan to resolve and close the findings identified in this report. We also recommend that DOT determine the allowability of the questioned transactions and recover $5,538,037, if applicable.