Federal Reports

In 2023, the VA OIG received several allegations that raised concerns about the management of supplies and equipment and workplace culture at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. The OIG initiated this review to evaluate whether the Houston facility supply chain management staff established and maintained inventory controls in accordance with VA policy. The OIG identified deficiencies in managing supplies, equipment, and implant inventory at the Houston facility. Supply chain management staff did not ensure accurate recording and accountability of expendable supplies, nonexpendable equipment, and implants in the inventory management systems, as mandated by VHA policy. These deficiencies stemmed from inadequate oversight and failure to follow inventory procedures, risking the loss of supplies or use of expired products for patient care. The OIG made 10 recommendations to the Houston medical facility director: six recommendations to improve inventory management oversight and compliance with inventory procedures and four recommendations to improve implant management.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) leads and coordinates the Nation’s drug policy to improve the health and lives of the American people, including the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy (the Strategy).  ONDCP evaluates the effectiveness of national drug control policy efforts, the Strategy’s goals and objectives, and each National Drug Control Program Agency’s program-level measures.  On February 27, 2024, after determining the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) program-level performance measures were missing numeric data to determine the extent HUD’s programs contributed to the Strategy, ONDCP requested that HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) review HUD’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 performance measures.  We initiated an audit to obtain the FY 2023 performance measures for HUD’s Continuum of Care Program (CoC) and Recovery Housing Program (RHP), to determine whether they accurately reflect program performance, and identify challenges the programs have experienced in developing and reporting performance measures.

HUD does not provide ONDCP with annual numeric targets for its CoC and RHP performance measures, but rather designates these performance metrics as tracking indicators used to contribute to ONDCP’s overall performance reporting on reducing overdoses in the United States.  HUD is hesitant to set annual numeric targets for CoCs because the primary focus of the program is to provide housing to individuals and families experiencing homelessness and not specific to people with substance use issues.  HUD is also hesitant to set annual numerical targets for RHP grantees because the program is a pilot program and potential issues with setting annual targets for multi-year RHP grants.  In addition, HUD cannot provide ONDCP actual results for CoC grantees by ONDCP’s designated annual November 1st deadline because CoC grantee data is not available to HUD until months after the deadline.  HUD uses a January 2018 ONDCP-approved reporting methodology to report CoC performance measures.  However, this reporting methodology does not allow ONDCP to fully capture the extent of the CoC and RHP programs’ contribution to the Strategy’s overall goal and objective of reducing overdose deaths in the United States.

In addition, HUD does not have formal policies and procedures for ONDCP reporting requirements which may increase the risk of reporting inconsistencies and impacts knowledge retention.

HUD can improve its performance reporting measures by collaborating with ONDCP on reporting methodologies that ensure performance measures can be reported by ONDCP’s November 1st deadline.  HUD should also establish formal reporting policies and procedures and written agreements with ONDCP that reflect the collaborative effort on alternative reporting methodologies.  By taking these actions, HUD will improve HUD and ONDCP’s ability to fully capture the programs’ contributions towards reducing overdose deaths in the United States.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) provides credit cards, known as the TVA One Card, to its employees to make purchases for TVA business, such as materials and supplies, travel, meetings and events, fuel for rental vehicles, management expenses, and services.  TVA transitioned from separate corporate credit cards and purchasing cards to the TVA One Card in 2022 and implemented a new expense management system.  For the 12-month period of May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2024, purchases made on the TVA One Card totaled $86.6 million.

We conducted an audit of TVA One Card purchases due to the recent introduction of the program and amount of annual spending. Our objective was to determine if purchases made using the TVA One Card complied with TVA policies and procedures. Our audit scope included approximately $59.2 million of TVA One Card purchases, which excluded those for travel/transportation, business meetings, and external relationship events, made during the 12-month period of May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2024. 

We reviewed supporting documentation uploaded in the expense management system for a sample of 139 purchases made using the TVA One Card and determined all but one of the purchases appeared to be for TVA business purposes.  However, we determined the review and approval process was not operating effectively and did not ensure purchases made with the TVA One Card complied with TVA policies and procedures.  Specifically, we found instances where (1) management approved purchases that did not fully comply with TVA policies and procedures, and (2) management’s review of purchases prior to expense report approval did not include reviewing the attached receipts.  Additionally, we determined cardholders were not consistently submitting purchases for approval in the expense management system within the required time frame.

An Amtrak carman based in Miami, Florida, resigned from his position on March 17, 2025, following an interview with our agents. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policies by leaving work early so he could report to a second job. The former employee is not eligible for rehire. Previously, another employee identified in this investigation also resigned from his position.