Federal Reports

In February 2021, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) identified funding risks with the development contract under which HUD contracted for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Catalyst’s development. In response, HUD officials took steps to slow FHA Catalyst spending on the contract while awaiting approval for additional contract funds. Despite efforts to slow project spending, it was not enough to prevent funding shortfalls before the contract’s base year end. Poor contract oversight enabled OCIO to exhaust funds before the end of the base year, which stopped work on FHA Catalyst. Additionally, several issues also hindered FHA Catalyst development activities. As of August 2021, HUD had resumed FHA Catalyst development work at limited capacity. As of October 2021, HUD estimated that it would complete FHA Catalyst development in March 2025.

The attached report presents the results of an integrated audit of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’) consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2021 and 2020 and internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2021. This audit is required by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, as amended by the Department of Homeland Security Financial Accountability Act (October 16, 2004).

Compliance-monitoring activities are important to ensure that facilities comply with applicable Clean Air Act requirements and air regulations to protect human health and the environment and deter violations that result in excess emissions.

We reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) ability to effectively complete information technology (IT) acquisitions.  HUD’s IT systems and its modernization plans depend heavily on contractors, yet HUD has historically faced significant challenges with implementing effective acquisition processes. Therefore, HUD’s acquisition capacity represents a key potential risk within HUD’s IT environment. We found that a lack of staffing capacity, implementation of effective coordination and communication practices, and effective oversight of management controls over acquisition processing. HUD officials acknowledged that IT acquisition process improvements are needed and have taken steps toward addressing deficiencies.This evaluation report contains five recommendations to assist in continued successes for future acquisition efforts.