Federal Reports

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) determined that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) information technology (IT) assets were not managed effectively throughout aspects of the IT lifecycle management process. The OIG substantiated four allegations, and found that some NRC assets were not returned upon employee separation from the NRC. Specifically, three employees separated from the NRC without returning four laptops. Additionally, NRC IT assets are not located in the locations that are shown in the configuration management database. The OIG found that 666 of 980 items were not in the locations assigned within the ITSM toolset. Further, new IT assets were not logged into the appropriate database for a period of 3 months. The OIG also found that NRC decommissioning procedures were not followed for IT assets.This report makes six recommendations to improve the NRC’s information technology asset management program.

Although Denali Commission's expenditures fall below the mandatory reporting threshold, even a small number of improper payments could negatively impact delivery of its mission. A risk assessment was undertaken and found no programs as susceptible to significant improper payments.

The NRC could improve its IT services and support through more consistent management with an emphasis on service level agreements (SLAs) and the closeout of IT-related contracts. Consistent with federal regulations and prudent business practices, contract requirements should be clearly defined, and the appropriate performance standards should be developed so the contractors’ performance can be measured. However, the NRC does not consistently use SLAs when awarding IT contracts because the agency has no specific guidance on how or when to use SLAs. As a result, the NRC may be limiting its ability to measure contractor performance and may not receive the services the agency requires or purchases. The NRC is required to close out contracts in an orderly and timely manner. However, the NRC is not always prompt in contract closeouts and in deobligating excess funds. This occurs because the NRC does not always prioritize contract closeouts and does not have a tracking method for contracts in the closeout process. This has led to a surplus of unliquidated obligations that could be put to better use. This report makes two recommendations to improve the NRC's management and closeout of IT contracts.

We reviewed mother/father and disabled widow(er) beneficiaries who were at, or beyond, full retirement age as of February 2024 to determine whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) had appropriately converted their benefit type to widow(er)s. We identified 757 widow(er)s who were not converted. As a result, SSA may be underpaying these beneficiaries.

An Amtrak Director based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on July 3, 2024, following the issuance of our investigative report. Our investigation found that the employee, along with another former employee, violated company policies by surreptitiously transmitting confidential company information without authorization to do so. Specifically, the employee transmitted the information to a private rail advocacy organization, resulting in its publication in the press and jeopardizing the company’s relationship with its stakeholders.