Federal Reports

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Healthcare Facility Inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the West Palm Beach VA Healthcare System in Florida. 

This evaluation focused on five key content domains:
     •    Culture
     •    Environment of care
     •    Patient safety
     •    Primary care
     •    Veteran-centered safety net

The OIG issued no recommendations.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) generally administered performance awards effectively; however, the OIG identified deficiencies in administering special act awards that require improvement. Specifically, the NRC granted special act awards frequently, often without sufficient justification, raising concerns about compliance with the policy criteria intended to recognize exceptional or superior achievements or contributions. In some cases, award justifications appeared to be duplicated, and some awards were miscoded in employee records, further highlighting weaknesses in award processing and documentation practices.
The NRC can improve the accuracy and consistency of its performance award determinations. The issues identified by the OIG included overlapping appraisal periods and failure to prorate awards for some part-time employees, resulting in noncompliance with award limits. In addition, time off was granted in excess of the NRC policy limits, underscoring the need to enhance oversight of time-off awards to prevent future occurrences.
The report makes nine recommendations to strengthen the documentation, justification, and oversight of awards to ensure compliance with applicable rules and agency policy.

What Was Reviewed 

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Office of Inspector General (OIG) contracted with the independent public accounting firm RMA Associates, LLC (RMA) to audit DFC’s charge card program in accordance with Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 (Charge Card Act). The Charge Card Act requires the OIG to conduct periodic reviews of DFC’s charge card program for illegal, improper, or erroneous transactions to prevent fraud, delinquency, or misuse. 

The objectives of this audit were as follows: 

1. To determine the scope, frequency, and number of audits or reviews, conduct a risk assessment to assess, identify, and analyze the risks of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments within DFC’s charge card program. 

2. Address the requirements of the Charge Card Act, OMB and General Services Administration (GSA) requirements and standards. 

What Was Found 

In its audit of DFC, RMA found that DFC implemented an effective Government Charge Card Program for FY 2024. As a result, there were no recommendations. RMA concluded that based on the results of their review of the current information, the results of their sample testing, and Appendix B guidance, that the next audit of the charge card program should be in FY 2026 for FY 2025 transactions. There were no prior year recommendations findings and all recommendations prior to 2022 were closed.

Report on the results of our performance audit of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) for the period of August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2024. During this period the National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment) closed four MSAC awards, totaling $4,545,800 in Arts Endowment funds and $24,614,504 in total reported costs. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not effectively manage and secure its mobile devices, resulting in vulnerabilities and higher susceptibility to cyberattacks, potential unauthorized access to law enforcement and operational sensitive information, and waste and abuse from under- or over-usage.  Specifically, we found that CBP did not: • Consistently implement required security settings to protect its mobile devices or mitigate risks from applications installed on these devices; • Use its mobile device management system to fully manage and secure its mobile devices; • Address software vulnerabilities within the mobile device management system; • Increase monitoring and protection for devices used outside the United States, which are at a higher risk of cyberattacks; • Perform required steps to reduce risks associated with the disposal, loss, or theft of its mobile devices; and • Monitor its mobile devices for under- or over-usage. CBP allowed mobile devices to operate without completing a security authorization process to ensure required security controls; did not establish or implement sufficient security policies and processes; relied on unclear or contradictory guidance; and did not address its increased mobile device losses.  Moreover, the Department did not provide oversight to ensure that CBP fulfilled DHS requirements for monitoring mobile devices outside the United States and CBP did not enforce its policies.   

We found that DOI may have misstated its total acres by 82 percent in its FY 2023 AFR.