Federal Reports

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated $8.8 billion to the Department of Energy for issuing grants to states, U.S. territories, and Indian Tribes for distribution to the public in the form of home energy rebates. The Department’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs is responsible for oversight and guidance of the $87.6 million of grants awarded to the New Mexico State Energy Office (NMSEO).

We initiated this inspection to assess the NMSEO’s internal controls to administer the Home Energy Rebates programs under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

We found that the NMSEO had not established a comprehensive internal controls system, though it has offered rebates since September 2024. Specifically, the NMSEO did not: (1) identify, assess, and document potential risks that could prevent the programs from achieving stated objectives; (2) document important control activities; and (3) ensure the activities of the implementing company aligned with what the Office of State and Community Energy Programs had approved.

Additionally, we identified areas of potential risk related to the NMSEO’s proposed plan to contract a company to implement a multifamily energy rebates program. Under the proposed plan, the multifamily implementing company would oversee its own work for installing energy-saving equipment and approving rebate requests. Additionally, the implementing company did not plan to verify self-reported household income or follow up with property owners to ensure they meet certain occupancy and rent requirements.

A fully established internal controls system helps protect Department funds and meet program objectives. Further, without well-documented policies and procedures, continuity of operations for the programs could be at risk when personnel normally assigned to complete those procedures are unavailable.

To address the issues identified in this report, we made one recommendation and one suggested action that, if fully executed, should help strengthen the NMSEO’s internal controls to implement the Home Energy Rebates programs.

The report contains an unmodified opinion on Commodity Credit Corporation’s (CCC) financial statements as of September 30, 2025, as well as an assessment of CCC’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection of the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System (facility) in Omaha from November 2024 through May 2025, following a congressional request to evaluate allegations related to the inpatient mental health unit’s environment of care. The OIG also evaluated allegations from another complainant regarding unit staffing and identified additional concerns related to training, policy guidance, and oversight.

The OIG substantiated facility leaders did not ensure adequate night lighting in patient rooms, which may affect patients’ sleep and hinder staff’s ability to conduct safety rounds. The OIG also substantiated the unit was not consistently staffed with the required number of employees trained in therapeutic containment for high-risk areas, placing patients and employees at risk. Although the OIG did not substantiate allegations that the unit was unclean and restroom doors did not lock, the OIG found female patients were unable to access the restroom without staff assistance.

The OIG found nursing leaders did not (1) develop a required patient safety rounding standard operating procedure, increasing the risk of inconsistent observation practices, and (2) ensure a clear process for using a risk for violence assessment, contributing to the inability to determine required staffing.

Additionally, facility leaders did not (1) consistently report root cause analysis action items, which may result in leaders being unaware of opportunities to improve care, and (2) notify Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 23 leaders of bed closures exceeding 60 days, misrepresenting available bed capacity.

The Under Secretary for Health concurred with 2 OIG recommendations related to high-risk workplace staffing guidance; the VISN Director concurred with 1 recommendation regarding oversight of bed changes; and the Facility Director concurred with 10 recommendations regarding unit lighting, rounding procedures, mitigation planning, staffing and training requirements, and root cause analysis reporting.

The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 requires the Inspector General to audit the agency’s financial statements each year, which is intended to help improve an agency’s financial management and controls over financial reporting. For FY 2025, the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the FY 2025 consolidated financial statement of the Department. The auditors reported that the FY 2025 consolidated financial statement is presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. In the Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, the auditors identified one material weakness and three significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting. In the Report on Compliance and Other Matters, the auditors reported no instances of noncompliance that were required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards or OMB Bulletin No. 24-02. Seven recommendations were made to the Department to address the internal control findings.  Management concurred with the findings and agreed to take action to address the recommendations.  See pages 84-96 for the report.

Semiannual Report to the Congress April 1, 2025 – September 30, 2025