Federal Reports

The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Department designed and implemented processes that provided reasonable assurance that Charter Schools Program Grants to Charter Management Organizations for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools (Replication and Expansion) grantees reported complete and accurate information in their annual performance reports (APR) and spent grant funds only on allowable activities and in accordance with program requirements. We found that the Department and the Charter School Program (CSP) office designed processes that should have provided reasonable assurance that recipients of Replication and Expansion grants reported complete and accurate information in their APRs. We concluded that the CSP office generally implemented these processes as designed. However, it did not always ensure that CSP program officers accurately and completely filled out APR review templates and notified grantees of issues or concerns identified during their reviews of APRs. As a result, the CSP office might not have had reliable information needed to make informed decisions about continuation funding. Additionally, the CSP office might not have provided timely assistance to grantees that needed assistance to meet their approved goals. Further, we determined that the Department and the CSP office also designed processes that should have provided reasonable assurance that Replication and Expansion grantees spent grant funds only on allowable activities and in accordance with program requirements. We concluded that the CSP office generally implemented these processes as designed. However, it did not always ensure that grantees implemented corrective actions to address significant compliance issues relevant to their uses of Replication and Expansion grant funds, fiscal control, and fund accounting. Lastly, the CSP office did not always retain records in official grant files. As a result, the CSP office could not find about 52 percent of the APR review forms that we concluded CSP program officers should have completed from October 1, 2015, through June 30, 2021. Additionally, the CSP office could not find written correspondence with the grantees associated with about 10 percent of the APR review forms that we requested for review.

This report presents the results of our audit of Management of Postal Service Smartphones.

What We Looked AtMoving international cargo across the United States-Mexico border, including via long-haul trucks, is essential to our economy. Pursuant to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act, in August 2021, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) submitted a report to Congress on all existing grants of operating authority to, and pending applications for operating authority from, all Mexico-domiciled and Mexican-owned or -controlled motor property carriers with authority to operate beyond the United States-Mexico border commercial zones. The USMCA Statement of Administrative Action directed our office to review the Department’s actions to determine whether each motor carrier with any operating authority covered by FMCSA’s reporting requirement complies with applicable Federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations. Our objectives were to determine whether FMCSA (1) met requirements in authorizing Mexico-domiciled and Mexican-owned or -controlled motor carriers to conduct long-haul trucking operations beyond border commercial zones and (2) monitored those carriers to ensure they are operating safely. What We FoundFMCSA generally followed Federal regulations and its standard operating procedures and processes when provisionally authorizing and monitoring cross-border carriers’ long-haul operations in the United States. The Agency also has an adequate tracking system to determine when carriers are due for a review to ensure they are complying with these regulations. However, FMCSA did not always conduct timely compliance reviews of carriers operating under provisional authority, which hinders FMCSA’s ability to fully assess and mitigate carrier safety risks, resulting in increased risk that unsafe carriers may be operating on the Nation’s roadways. Our RecommendationsFMCSA concurred with our three recommendations to improve its adherence to requirements in authorizing and monitoring Mexico-domiciled and Mexican-owned or -controlled motor carriers. We consider these recommendations resolved but open pending completion of planned actions.

This report contains information about recommendations from the OIG's audits, evaluations, reviews, and other reports that the OIG had not closed as of the specified date because it had not determined that the Department of Justice (DOJ) or a non-DOJ federal agency had fully implemented them. The list omits information that DOJ determined to be limited official use or classified, and therefore unsuitable for public release.The status of each recommendation was accurate as of the specified date and is subject to change. Specifically, a recommendation identified as not closed as of the specified date may subsequently have been closed.