Federal Reports

We audited the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD or Department) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity’s (FHEO) process for conducting civil rights compliance reviews.  FHEO’s operational readiness to carry out robust compliance reviews is critical to HUD’s goals to advance equity and support underserved communities.  Our objective was to survey and assess challenges FHEO faced in conducting compliance reviews. Based on our survey, FHEO is making progress in addressing several challenges in conducting civil rights compliance reviews, including (1) limited staff and resources, (2) the need for trained and experienced staff, (3) a lack of centralized guidance for conducting compliance reviews, (4) a lack of guidance for making strategic target selections, and (5) structural barriers that affect compliance reviews.  With increased resources and capacity, improved guidance, increased authority to determine and interpret civil rights related program requirements within the Department, and a commitment from all program offices, FHEO's compliance review function can be more effective in promoting compliance with civil rights laws.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) conducts individualized assessments of some land port of entry (LPOE) operations to evaluate workforce staffing, technology, and infrastructure improvements. While these assessments may have allowed OFO to optimize some LPOE operations, OFO does not integrate them or the data collected to enable a more comprehensive assessment across all LPOE operations.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed GPO’s compliance with the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Actanti-gag provisions.

Seventeen Amtrak employees based at New York Penn Station or the NW Base in New Jersey, consisting of two Gang Foremen, four linemen, three truck drivers, six 3rd Rail welders, one trackman, and one electronic technician resigned in connection with an OIG investigation of alleged healthcare fraud. Five of those who resigned were among 10 current and former employees charged by indictment June 20, 2024, with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.The resignations occurred between July 15 and September 12, 2024. Our investigation found that the employees participated in an $11 million health care fraud scheme beginning in 2019 and continuing to June 2022 involving health care providers and others who recruited Amtrak employees—primarily from New Jersey and New York—to participate in the scheme. The employees were given cash payments in exchange for allowing the health care providers to use their patient and insurance information to submit fraudulent claims to Amtrak’s health care plan for services that they never provided or that were medically unnecessary.

The Office of Inspector General determined that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s portfolio management process is not operating as intended. Specifically, we found: • Some types of projects did not follow the portfolio management process as required by Tennessee Valley Authority-Standard Programs and Processes 19.003. In addition, TVA does not have a reverse capital flex list, as described in the Portfolio Management Guide. • Economic analyses were not performed for 9 of 17 projects reviewed with a forecasted cost greater than $10 million, although Tennessee Valley Authority’s Portfolio Management Guide states economic analyses are required for all projects equal to or greater than $10 million. • Economic analyses for two Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors approved projects had negative net present values, which indicates the projects might not add value to TVA. These analyses, as well as additional costs for one of the projects, were not provided to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.• Two purchase orders were issued prior to spend approval for one project, indicating a control gap.