Federal Reports

This management advisory assesses the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) internal controls over purchase and travel card expenditures for fiscal year 2022. In August 2019, OMB issued a revised circular requiring federal agencies to develop a charge card management plan, which is a risk management policy containing an internal control system. SBA’s plan identifies key management officials and their roles and responsibilities and directs employees on how to use data analytics tools and techniques to support spend visibility and analysis. SBA participates in the General Services Administration (GSA) SmartPay government-wide charge card program, which is important to our assessment because this program includes data analytics and reporting tools to assist with oversight controls.Our objective was to perform a risk assessment of SBA’s government purchase card and travel card programs to identify any risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments. Our review focused on determining whether SBA implemented effective controls, policies, and procedures to mitigate the risk of charge card misuse, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments.Our assessment of SBA’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 purchase and travel card programs found the agency is at low risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments. We found SBA implemented effective internal controls to limit risks to prevent illegal, improper, and erroneous purchases and payments. SBA’s internal controls helped safeguard taxpayer funds against fraud, waste, or abuse. SBA established the use of bank card management analytical and audit tools to manage card program expenses, review cardholders spending patterns, and analyze transaction detail reports to monitor delinquency, potential fraud and misuse, performance metrics, and other noncompliance issues.

The VA Office of Inspector General’s (OIG’s) oversight function includes interpretation of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) policies. Unclear policies create challenges for oversight and may impact the services veterans receive. The purpose of this memorandum is to highlight concerns with facility-level expectations described in the VHA policy for conducting institutional disclosures of adverse events. The OIG identified unclear language and inconsistent application of VHA Directive 1004.08, Disclosure of Adverse Events to Patients, during various healthcare inspections that took place during fiscal years 2022 and 2023.The OIG determined that VHA policy language is unclear as to whether a sentinel event automatically triggers the need for institutional disclosure, in part because of The Joint Commission’s (TJC’s) evolving definition of a sentinel event, which now includes non-patient-care events. Based on a fiscal year 2023 hotline inspection involving a sentinel event, the OIG also discovered unclear criteria regarding the definition of suicide as a sentinel event, and whether all sentinel events require institutional disclosure.Unclear requirements may have resulted in VHA medical facility leaders’ confusion about when to make institutional disclosures. Additionally, the OIG found that VHA Directive 1004.08 does not provide leaders with discretion on whether to make an institutional disclosure of an event based on a delay in discovery of a serious adverse incident when, according to 1004.08, an institutional disclosure would otherwise be implemented.The OIG requested the Under Secretary for Health (1) more clearly specify in an amended or updated policy when a sentinel event, as defined by TJC, should trigger an institutional disclosure; (2) reinforce to VHA staff the indications for institutional disclosure; and (3) reinforce to staff that the present policy requires institutional disclosure for specific events, regardless of timeliness of discovery.

The objective of the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (DOI OIG) Qualitative Assessment Review was to determine whether the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) had internal control systems in place that provided reasonable assurance that SIGTARP followed professional standards when conducting investigations. The professional standards were the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Quality Standards for Investigations and the Attorney General Guidelines for Offices of Inspector General with Statutory Law Enforcement Authority.DOI OIG performed the review in accordance with the CIGIE Qualitative Assessment Review Guidelines for Federal Offices of Inspectors General. They used the questionnaires and checklists attached to these review guidelines. DOI OIG analyzed existing policies and procedures; spoke with staff; reviewed closed investigative case files; and tested compliance with SIGTARP’s internal control systems to the extent we considered appropriate. They conducted the review in January and February 2024.

The U.S. Postal Service provides customers across the nation mail service six days a week as required by law. In December 2022, Winter Storm Elliott arrived in Western New York, and within minutes, winds went from 10 to 70 miles per hour and brought about 36 inches of snow over four days. During a winter storm emergency that may disrupt normal operations, the Postal Service may continue its mission of delivering services to the American public or decide to close facilities and cease operations. It is vital for the Postal Service to prepare for and respond to winter emergencies in a timely manner to safeguard employees. Additionally, it is critical for the Postal Service to capture lessons learned and address potential preparedness and response weaknesses following a weather emergency.

While conducting a risk assessment to inform our Fiscal Year 2024 Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Department of Commerce report, we concluded that the ship construction program the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently undertaking is insufficient to fully meet the requirements outlined in the bureau’s fleet plan. Further, the lack of an up-to-date fleet plan has negatively impacted NOAA’s ability to communicate its capability needs and required funding. In addition, we highlight a significant challenge in ensuring that the agency has sufficient staff with the required skills to simultaneously acquire three new classes of ships. We also identify a need for increased programmatic oversight of these complicated and expensive acquisition programs.