Federal Reports

The Office of Inspector General assessed NASA’s management of its planetary science portfolio, which consists of 30 space flight missions in various stages of operation, and examined whether its Planetary Science Division is meeting its goals and priorities.

The Postal Service owns and operates a fleet of over 227,000 vehicles. The Postal Service has 7- and 11-ton cargo vans that Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) drivers use to transport mail between facilities and to load/unload mail from cargo vans. In September 2017, the Postal Service began replacing 7- and 11-ton cargo vans and adding new lift gates. A lift gate is a piece of equipment on the rear of a cargo van that helps load/unload mail transport equipment (MTE) containing mail. When the Postal Service replaced the older cargo vans, transportation managers could choose between a tuck under lift gate (84 inches wide by 50 inches long) or rail lift gate (89 inches wide by 54 inches long). Tuck under lift gates tuck beneath the cargo van while rail lift gates fold against the back of the cargo van when not in use. The Postal Service purchased 1,167 tuck under lift gates and 446 rail lift gates on the 7- and 11-ton cargo vans for an estimated total cost of $6.5 million. Our objective was to evaluate the efficiency and safety of lift gates used on U.S. Postal Service cargo vans.

Audit of the NLRB's lapse of its Fiscal Year 2019 appropriation.

In accordance with our annual plan, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) assessed the USCP Threats Assessment Section (TAS) to determine if (1) the organizational structure and training for the Department's management of threats against Protectees was the most efficient and effective and (2) the Department complied with applicable policies and procedures as well as applicable laws, regulations, and best practices. Our scope included the TAS organizational structure, training, processes, and operations during Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020.

This investigation was initiated after OIG auditors identified irregular transactions paid for with a TVA Purchasing Card. More specifically, the auditors discovered the Purchasing Card was used by a cardholder to make payments to an apartment complex. The subsequent investigation substantiated that the employee used the card to make several monthly rental payments to the apartment complex where she lived. To address this situation and prevent similar improper usage of the Purchasing Card in the future, the OIG made several recommendations. The OIG recommended TVA do the following: (1) Take action to recover from the employee the outstanding balance of the unauthorized transactions, (2) consider disciplinary action against the employee, (3) ensure that all cardholders and approvers in Transmission and Power Supply are current on annual Purchase Card training, and (4) take measures to ensure approving officials are notified when Purchasing Card statements are not reconciled monthly and to suspend cards when there is repeated noncompliance with this requirement.

A Boilermaker/Welder, based in Beech Grove, Indiana, violated Amtrak policies by engaging in outside employment to work for his own companies while on sick leave. We also confirmed that he was conducting and engaging in work for his own companies on days that he requested leave for “union business.” Finally, our investigation found that he did not seek or request written approval from Amtrak to engage in outside employment which, according to the website for his personal business, advertises services for the railroad industry and, as a result, violated the company’s Conflict of Interest Policy. The employee was terminated from his employment on September 15, 2020.