Federal Reports

For our audit on U.S. Department of Commerce (Department) locality pay, our objective was to determine whether the Department ensures employees are paid the correct locality pay in accordance with applicable regulations and policy. We found that I. Department personnel did not timely initiate or process changes in employee duty stations and II. the Department could not demonstrate that all teleworking employees reported to the office as required by their telework agreements.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration oversees its employees’ outside employment to mitigate the risk of conflicts of interest and employee misconduct.

OIG reviewed and analyzed USDA default credentials vulnerability scans and followed up on a related prior audit recommendation. We also reviewed and evaluated the Department's policies and procedures, and we interviewed responsible USDA officials. OIG made three recommendations to OCIO and reached management decision on each of them.

Why We Did This ReportThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General conducted this audit to determine the extent to which the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants support the EPA’s program goals for the Great Lakes. Summary of FindingsThe Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI, grants we reviewed documented contributions to the EPA’s program goals for the Great Lakes, including protection of habitats, reduction of discharges of untreated stormwater, and management of invasive species. However, the GLRI grant recipients did not always include environmental justice outputs and outcomes in their final reports. GLRI grant recipients did not always report whether they achieved environmental justice-related activities in their final project reports, nor did EPA project officers monitor whether the GLRI grant recipients included all outputs and outcomes in their final project reports.

The U.S. Postal Service performs a variety of operations, dependent on its vast information technology infrastructure. This infrastructure encompasses 761 systems that the Postal Service strives to maintain and secure from network attacks. In support of the Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service plans to invest in modernizing and enhancing cybersecurity technologies, but it is still managing outdated computing system hardware and software (legacy systems). Secure systems are imperative to uninterrupted operations and protecting Postal Service data.