Federal Reports

What We Looked AtThe Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Investigations and Professional Responsibility (AXI) conducts administrative investigations and special inquiries on FAA employees and contractors suspected of violating Agency orders, regulations, and policy. The Federal Aviation Administrator asked our office to conduct a review of AXI following a December 2020 Senate Committee report that detailed significant lapses in aviation safety oversight and leadership at FAA. Our audit objective was to assess AXI’s policies, procedures, and practices for conducting administrative investigations and evaluate its compliance with applicable standards or best practices. What We FoundAXI’s guidance overlaps with and contradicts FAA’s guidance, potentially leaving investigators unclear about their responsibilities. An FAA directive also currently prohibits investigators from concluding whether employees actually engaged in misconduct, which senior AXI officials believe would make their reports more effective. Per the request of the Administrator, we obtained training records to determine if investigators received the necessary indoctrination training. However, AXI’s electronic training system records are not current, making it difficult to track whether agents are fully trained on proper investigative techniques and protocols. In addition, the office lacks internal controls to ensure the appropriate official always reviews and signs investigation reports. As a result, sensitive investigation reports could be issued without management’s awareness. Field investigators also lack clear guidance on referring criminal cases to OIG, and AXI does not have internal controls to ensure that it accounts for investigative requests that it rejects or that do not fall under its authority. Without an accurate record, some cases may get overlooked. Finally, AXI’s policies, procedures, and practices do not comply with Federal or AXI standards for program reviews, which hinders its ability to ensure investigators meet program requirements, help FAA take effective corrective action against employees who engage in misconduct, and prevent errors from reoccurring. Our RecommendationsFAA concurred with all 11 of our recommendations to strengthen AXI’s policies, procedures, and practices for conducting administrative investigations.

We performed this review as part of our ongoing inspection with the objective to conduct integrated oversight of the funding provided to Forest Service's Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Alert Memorandum:Closure of Participating MainStreet Lending Program Bank

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in demand for ventilators and provoked concerns about potential supply shortages across VA medical facilities. During the course of a previous broader review, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) uncovered a potential issue with the number of ventilators procured and stored at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and sought to determine whether they had been properly requested, acquired, received, and accounted for.The OIG found the facility acquired more ventilators from March 1, 2020, through November 30, 2021, than were needed for veteran care. Facility and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) officials duplicated purchase efforts, resulting in the facility obtaining 112 ventilators—56 from a local contract and 56 from a VHA national contract. This was due in part to facility officials’ concerns about the pandemic-related demand and acquisition delays from supply chain disruptions. The VHA-purchased ventilators, worth about $2.5 million, were never used for patient care at the hospital. They were placed in storage for more than 19 months during which other VA facilities reported shortages. The ventilators were quickly redistributed in 2022 after facility officials turned them in.The hospital lacked an effective methodology to determine the number of ventilators the hospital needed either before or during the pandemic. Contributing to these issues was VA’s lack of a reliable inventory system to identify excess equipment.VA concurred with the OIG’s recommendations to (1) document a methodology for determining the number of ventilators required to fulfill the facility’s mission during routine and emergency operations and (2) determine whether the remaining ventilators are all needed or can be turned in as required by VA policy. VA submitted documentation of corrective actions resulting in the OIG’s closure of the recommendations as implemented.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Allapattah Station in Miami, FL. The Allapattah Station is in the Florida 3 District of the Southern Area and services ZIP Codes 33142 and 33242. These ZIP Codes serve about 52,444 people in an urban area. This delivery unit has 31 city routes. We judgmentally selected the Allapattah Station based on the number of Customer 360 and Informed Delivery contacts associated with the unit, and Stop-the-Clock scans performed at the unit.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Doral Branch in Doral, FL. The Doral Branch is in the Florida 3 District of the Southern Area and services ZIP Codes 33172, 33192, 33206, and 33222. These ZIP Codes serve about 37,076 people in an urban area. This delivery unit has 24 city routes. We judgmentally selected the Doral Branch based on the number of Customer 360 and Informed Delivery contacts associated with the unit and Stop-the-Clock scans performed at the unit.