Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a national review to evaluate Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) implementation of the PACT Act of 2022, which mandated veteran toxic exposure screenings, and required clinical staff training.

Section 603 of the PACT Act mandated that, within 90 days of the date of enactment, VHA implement a health screen to identify potential toxic exposures during military service. The Act requires VHA to screen veterans and address issues specific to toxic exposures during military service.

VHA developed a method of screening, and as of November 30, 2023, screened over four million of the nine million enrolled veterans. VHA also complied with requirements to train clinical staff to “identify, treat, and assess the impact on veterans of illnesses related to toxic exposures.”

VHA issued memorandums to Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and facility directors requiring additional toxic exposure screening training for clinical staff. However, 21.4 percent of clinical staff completed training prior to performing a screening during the period November 8, 2022, through January 9, 2023. Although training compliance increased after VHA issued additional guidance in January 2023, many veterans were likely screened by clinical staff who had not completed training.

The OIG did not assess the impact of screening on primary care workload, but VHA leaders acknowledged toxic exposure screening adds to workload and had not evaluated nor considered mitigating efforts for the additional workload burden.

The OIG made two recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health related to assessing training noncompliance and evaluating the impact of toxic exposure screening on primary care.

This report presents the results of our audits of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2024, and 2023.

Results of FEC's FY 24 Financial Statement Audit

At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Supply Chain, we examined the cost proposal submitted by a contractor for engineering services in connection with the validation phase of TVA’s Small Modular Reactor and Clinch River Nuclear project. Our examination objective was to determine if the cost proposal was fairly stated for a planned $25 million contract.

In our opinion, the cost proposal was overstated. Specifically, the proposed labor markup and other direct cost rates were overstated compared to recent actual costs. Additionally, (1) the proposed maximum wage ranges were not reflective of contractor’s actual wage ranges and (2) to the draft contract should be revised to clarify language regarding fee and long-term travel. We suggest TVA management (1) negotiate reduced labor markup and other direct cost rates to more accurately reflect the contractor’s recent actual costs, (2) negotiate revisions to the proposed wage ranges to more accurately reflect contractor’s actual wage ranges, and (3) revise the draft contract to clarify TVA’s intent regarding fee and long-term travel.

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of Allmond & Company, LLC, audited EAC’s financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024.

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of Allmond & Company, LLC, audited EAC's financial statements for fiscal year 2024. The purpose of this letter is to convey information concerning control weaknesses that did not rise to the level of a significant deficiency or material weakness.