Federal Reports

In 2019, the Office of Inspector General initiated an investigation related to Pantex Plant’s (Pantex) management and operating contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS), after CNS disclosed to the Government credible evidence that production technicians fraudulently recorded timesheet hours that they did not work. The investigation found that CNS submitted payment claims for production technicians’ hours worked and recorded on timesheets; however, the hours had not been worked. In 2024, the case was settled and CNS paid the Department $18,400,000 to capture the loss of claimed labor hours.
We initiated this audit to determine whether the CNS timekeeping irregularities that occurred at Pantex had adverse impacts to operations.

CNS timekeeping irregularities at Pantex resulted in adverse impacts to operations. Specifically, CNS experienced:

• Production delays; 
• Negative impacts to conduct of operations, which was a program put in place to ensure worker, public, and environmental protection;
• Additional costs for training and security clearances of $8.4 million to replace the production technicians who were terminated or placed on administrative leave; and 
• Increases in weapons quality incident reports following the termination of production technicians.

We attributed the adverse impacts to operations to a lack of CNS oversight over timekeeping. CNS responded by implementing an attendance verification process and requiring production technicians to badge in and out upon arrival to and departure from the plant; CNS was actively monitoring the implementation of its attendance verification process. The current contractor, PanTeXas Deterrence, LLC., will take over the attendance verification process.

We did not have any recommendations. Pantex’s contractors, CNS and PanTeXas Deterrence, LLC., took action to address the primary causes of the timekeeping internal control failures.

Pursuant to One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review of OIG and Government Accountability Office (GAO) engagements related to USDA programs that received funding under the act. Through this review, we identified work that may provide USDA insight when administering these programs and disbursing funds.

This report presents the results of our audit of Network Changes: Regional Transfer Hubs.

The U.S. Postal Service implemented the Regional Transfer Hubs (RTH) initiative nationwide as part of its efforts to streamline and modernize its network. The initiative reduces origin separations and moves mail across the country to RTH operations where it is then sorted for destinating facilities. The Postal Service expects this initiative to reduce the overall number of trips needed and transportation costs. As of March 2025, the Postal Service had 18 active RTHs located throughout the country with plans to activate more.

Our objective was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the Postal Service's RTH initiative. We reviewed and analyzed transportation and service performance data from October 2023 through March 2025. Additionally, we conducted site observations and interviewed Postal Service personnel at five RTH facilities during April and May 2025.

TVA began hedging natural gas prices in April 2022 under the reinstated Financial Hedging Program (FHP). The program’s stated objectives are to reduce fuel rate volatility and balance operational and financial risks. From its reinstatement in April 2022 through February 2025, TVA’s FHP experienced losses of approximately $645 million.  We performed an audit of the FHP due to the financial risks associated with hedging. Our audit objective was to determine if TVA’s FHP is achieving its objectives of reducing fuel rate volatility and balancing operational and financial risks.

We determined the FHP achieved its objective of reducing fuel rate volatility between April 2022 and February 2025.  Over the 35-month period, fuel rate volatility was reduced by an average of about 3.5 percent.  However, we were unable to determine if TVA met its objective of balancing financial and operational risks because the objective is unclear and TVA has not defined parameters to define successful achievement of the objective. 

Although the fuel rate volatility was reduced over the entire time frame, the FHP resulted in (1) approximately $645 million in losses that were passed on to TVA’s customers and (2) a 2 percent increase in fuel rate volatility in fiscal year 2024.  We also found TVA had not performed the required back testing to measure volatility reduction and the effectiveness of the FHP.  At our request, TVA performed the back testing that showed the program had reduced fuel rate volatility. 

Additionally, we identified an opportunity for TVA to improve the information provided to the TVA Board, Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, and Tennessee Valley Industrial Committee related to FHP fuel rate volatility and FHP gains/losses.

As directed under the MISSION Act, VA created clinical resource hubs to improve healthcare access for veterans in underserved areas. The hubs backstop medical facilities in each regional Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) that do not have enough clinical staff due to attrition, recruiting difficulties, or growth in the veteran population. Hub physicians see most patients virtually. Encounters increased from almost 482,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 to about 1.2 million in FY 2024.

The OIG team found that despite the increase in patient encounters, physicians in some hub primary care and specialty group practices—such as cardiologists, dermatologists, and psychiatrists and psychologists—generally did not appear to meet established minimum productivity thresholds. The apparent failure to meet these thresholds may have been caused by gaps and inaccuracies in the data used to measure productivity. The available data did not consistently give physicians credit for work documented at a spoke site (where a veteran presents for care), recognizing only work documented at the facility to which the hub physician’s labor is mapped. Moreover, VHA lacked formal guidance on how hubs should measure and monitor specialty physician productivity. Hub officials simply relied on indicators like the number of patient encounters and veterans served, instead of using standardized productivity metrics that factor in the complexity of each visit. The lack of guidance also prevented VHA from identifying and remediating underperforming hub services.

The OIG recommended VHA improve data, issue guidance on which productivity measures apply to hub physicians, and clarify who should monitor productivity and take corrective action when targets are not met. These steps will help VHA evaluate whether the ever-increasing investment in hubs is justified and the number of veterans served is optimized. VHA agreed with the recommendations.

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.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to review allegations regarding internal endocrine consult management, endocrine clinic utilization, and patient access to gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) at the VA Fayetteville Coastal Healthcare System (system) in North Carolina. The OIG also reviewed leaders’ awareness of and response to these concerns.

The OIG substantiated that the chief of medicine (COM) did not effectively manage internal consults. Specifically, the COM did not communicate endocrine consult management process changes to key stakeholders, did not process consults according to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) timeliness requirements, canceled a large volume of consults without communicating to sending providers, converted face-to face consults to e-consults without providing a mechanism for sending providers to communicate concerns, and delayed implementation of a required service line agreement. 

The COM’s deficient management of endocrine consults negatively impacted endocrine clinic utilization and resulted in provider-created workarounds and patients not receiving timely endocrine appointments. From February through early October 2024, patient access to GAHT was delayed because of the COM’s actions, resulting in adverse clinical outcomes. The OIG found the COM’s interpersonal communication skills did not reflect the high reliability organization (HRO) values of clear communication and respect for others, and negatively affected system staff across multiple services.

The OIG made one recommendation to the Veterans Integrated Service Network Director to review the leadership performance of the COM, and six recommendations to the System Director related to reviewing the endocrine consult management process, reviewing patients affected by delayed endocrine consults, ensuring service line agreements are developed, confirming effective utilization of endocrine clinic appointments, ensuring there is a process for monitoring and tracking clinic profile modification requests, and evaluating communication gaps between leaders to comply with HRO goals.

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.

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule, which included requirements for addressing the risks from coal ash disposal.  The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) updated the program funding for its CCR management program in 2015 to address compliance with the CCR rule and in 2017 began developing a site-specific project to address coal ash at Gallatin Fossil Plant.  The Gallatin Ash Pond Complex Closure and Restoration (Gallatin Ash) project activities include (1) construction, operation, and closure of on-site lined landfills; (2) excavation and disposal of approximately 14 million cubic yards of CCR from Gallatin Fossil Plant; and (3) closure of the legacy ash site and coal yard, along with other site restoration work. 

The project was first approved for implementation by the Project Review Board in February 2018 with a total estimated project cost of approximately $899 million.  As of July 2024, the total estimated project cost had increased to approximately $1.64 billion, an increase of approximately 82 percent.  Because of the costs associated with this project, we assessed the management of project costs. 

We determined cost management for the Gallatin Ash project needed improvement related to the development of the project estimate and monitoring and tracking of project change requests (PCRs).  Specifically, the project estimate (1) did not include the complete scope of work and (2) was not developed using definitive costs as required.  As a result, the initial implementation project estimate was significantly understated.  Some PCRs submitted by contractors lacked adequate detail to determine if project cost increases were reasonable.  In addition, PCRs were not prepared for cost increases resulting from inaccurate project estimates. During the review, we also identified confidential contractor information that was shared by TVA project management with another contractor, creating reputational and liability risks for TVA.

The Department of Homeland Security Headquarters (HQ) did not adequately secure a non-Tier 1 High Value Asset (HVA) system used to support data analysis and reporting on DHS component operations, which rendered the system and its sensitive information vulnerable to cyberattacks. Although DHS HQ developed policies and procedures meant to reduce risks to sensitive information stored on the HVA system and effectively implemented certain controls, we determined the system did not meet security requirements.  We identified nine unique critical and high-risk vulnerabilities that appeared 182 times in the system and, through simulated cyberattack penetration testing, were able to exploit vulnerabilities.  The vulnerabilities we identified pose significant security risks, increasing the likelihood an attacker could gain access to sensitive information. These deficiencies demonstrate that DHS HQ needs to strengthen its management of the HVA system.  Ensuring the system complies with the Department’s security and privacy policies will better protect the sensitive information processed by the system.  Until these deficiencies are addressed, DHS HQ may not be equipped to protect the HVA system and cannot ensure it will be able to quickly respond to and recover from a cyberattack. 

The U.S. Postal Service has been transporting live, day-old poultry since 1918. “Day-old poultry” is defined as day-old chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea birds, partridges, pheasants, quail, and turkeys. As the primary shipper for these time-sensitive shipments, or “lives,” the Postal Service provides an essential service for hatcheries, farmers, feed stores, and backyard hobbyists. Last year, the Postal Service handled over 41 million lives through its air network alone.

To ensure safe, effective, and efficient transportation, the Postal Service requires mailers of live animals to comply with established guidelines. In turn, the Postal Service prioritizes shipment of lives through its processing and logistic networks.

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.   

Why We Did This Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General has identified concerns regarding the installation and use of unauthorized software, specifically jiggler software, on EPA computers and networks. Commonly referred to as “mouse jigglers,” jiggler software simulates activity on a laptop, preventing the laptop from entering sleep mode and locking out its user. After running network scans in two EPA regions in November and December 2024, the Agency discovered 120 employees and contractors using jiggler software.

Summary of Findings

Our investigation found that jiggler software could bypass the Agency’s Windows Installer settings, that some of the EPA’s information technology specialists believed they were exempt from the policy, and that other EPA employees and contractors installed the software without authorization. Furthermore, we discovered inconsistencies in how quickly the regional offices acted to remove the jiggler software after it was detected. The installation and use of unauthorized software on EPA computers and networks represent critical cybersecurity risks and ethics violations for the Agency.

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

We found that nearly $40 million in IT-related purchase requests were incorrectly classified and did not receive appropriate IT approval as required.

Access to retail services is an important part of the Postal Service’s universal service obligation. The Postal Service relies on a network of over 31,000 facilities (“units”) where customers can conduct various retail transactions, and this network hosted over 655 million visits in fiscal year 2024. It is imperative for retail units to be accessible to customers by being open during scheduled hours and not closed for prolonged periods of time (such as suspensions).

An Amtrak coach cleaner based in New Orleans, Louisiana, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 22, 2025, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana. The employee agreed to pay $19,132.75 in restitution and a penalty of $4,497.25 related to the fraudulent receipt of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. We found that the employee submitted an application containing false statements and information to qualify for the loan. As a result, the employee received a PPP loan in the amount of $16,452 to which she was not entitled.

A yardmaster based in Chicago, Illinois, resigned from her position on September 20, 2025, prior to her administrative hearing. We found that the former employee violated company policies by secretly recording a conversation she had with her supervisor without his consent or knowledge. The former employee is not eligible for rehire.

The U.S. Postal Service needs effective and productive operations to fulfill its mission of providing prompt, reliable, and affordable mail service to the American public. It has a vast transportation network that moves mail and equipment among approximately 315 processing facilities and 31,200 post offices, stations, and branches. The Postal Service is transforming its processing and logistics networks to become more scalable, reliable, visible, efficient, automated, and digitally integrated. This includes modernizing operating plans and aligning the workforce; leveraging emerging technologies to provide world-class visibility and tracking of mail and packages in near real time; and optimizing the surface and air transportation network. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General reviews the efficiency of mail processing operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback to further the Postal Service’s mission. 

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to over 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission. 

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of delivery operations and property conditions at the Benson Station in Omaha, NE. The Benson Station is in the Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota District of the Central Area and serves about 36,809 people in ZIP Code 68104, which is considered a predominantly urban community.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to more than 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission. 

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of delivery operations and property conditions at the Boystown Station in Omaha, NE. The Boystown Station is in the Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota District of the Central Area and serves about 87,387 people in ZIP Codes 68116, 68118, 68130 and 68154 which are considered urban communities.

The U.S. Postal Service’s mission is to provide timely, reliable, secure, and affordable mail and package delivery to more than 160 million residential and business addresses across the country. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews delivery operations at facilities across the country and provides management with timely feedback in furtherance of this mission. 

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of delivery operations and property conditions at the Fremont Administrative Post Office (APO) in Fremont, NE. The Fremont APO is in the Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota District of the Central Area and serves about 31,176 people in ZIP Code 68025, which is considered a predominantly urban area (see Figure 1). Specifically, 28,262 (90.7 percent) live in urban communities and 2,914 (9.3 percent) live in rural communities.

During the week of June 2, 2025, we performed a self-initiated audit at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) and Network Distribution Center (NDC) and seven delivery units serviced by the two plants. The delivery units included the Ballwin, O’Fallon, and St. Charles Main Post Offices, Maryville Gardens and Southwest Stations, and the Clayton and Creve Coeur Branches in the St. Louis, MO area.

We issued individual reports for the seven delivery units, P&DC, and NDC. We issued another report summarizing the results of our audits at all seven delivery units with specific recommendations for management to address.

This report presents the results of the System and Organization Controls 1 Type 2 examination conducted in accordance with relevant attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) description of its data center hosting and security systems used to process user entities’ transactions throughout the period October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. The report contains an unmodified opinion on the description and controls that were suitably designed to provide reasonable assurance that the control objectives would be achieved.

This report presents the results of the System and Organization Controls 1 Type 2 examination conducted in accordance with relevant attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Finance Center (NFC) description of its payroll and personnel systems used to process user entities payroll and human resource transactions throughout the period October 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The report contains an unmodified opinion on the description and controls that were suitably designed to provide reasonable assurance that the control objectives would be achieved.

An Amtrak manager based in Thorndale, Pennsylvania, was terminated from employment on September 18, 2025, following an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by providing false information on his employment application.

Why We Did This Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General conducted this evaluation to determine whether the EPA’s oversight and implementation of air quality monitoring resulted in underreported air pollution. 
 

Summary of Findings

Our statistical analyses indicate that pollution levels increase when certain air quality monitoring sites are offline. When some ambient air quality monitoring sites were offline, fine particulate matter air pollution increased on average by about 4 percent for daily monitoring sites and 9 percent for 1-in-3 monitoring sites. Further analyses indicated that 35.70 percent of sites that operated intermittently rather than daily had worse air quality on average when they were offline. While the results of our analyses do not indicate malicious behavior at any specific site, they demonstrate that there is a risk of underreported air pollution. 

The OIG issued this memorandum to help VHA determine whether additional actions are needed to address significant cost concerns and potential issues about patients’ length of stay and quality of care for residential substance use disorder treatment provided under community care contracts with two third-party administrators (TPAs). The OIG found the contracts do not require community providers to use designated billing codes, which could lead to VHA overpaying providers for these services. Though VHA has amended the contract for one TPA, negotiations are ongoing with the other; until this occurs, overpayments to the second TPA—which were over $268 million for FYs 2023 and 2024—will continue.

The OIG is also concerned that lax oversight of the TPAs could lead to VHA overpaying for these services because TPAs may bill for unnecessary treatment that could needlessly lengthen the time a veteran receives care. Further, the OIG is concerned about the quality of residential substance use disorder treatment veterans receive in the community and suggests greater oversight could mitigate financial risk as well as safeguard the care veterans receive.

The OIG notes that while VHA has taken steps to create a new payment policy and has completed a contract modification with the first TPA to clarify the use of billing codes, VHA should apply those changes to current and future contracts and monitor whether these changes control costs. The OIG also suggests VHA consider consulting with mental health staff at authorizing VA facilities for feedback on improving the care veterans receive in the community for these services.

The United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) does not have a comprehensive system to initiate, investigate, and report suspension and revocation (S&R) actions of merchant mariner (mariner) credentials, and therefore cannot ensure the suitability of all mariners.  We found:  • The Coast Guard did not always investigate allegations of mariner misconduct because it has not developed a comprehensive case management system for the S&R process, nor has it developed internal procedures specifying which systems and processes Investigating Officers should use when investigating allegations. • The Coast Guard processes to obtain and record essential S&R information in its Merchant Mariner Licensing and Documentation (MMLD) database are not always effective, which leads to transmitting inaccurate information to the maritime community and the public. • The MMLD database is limited in its capabilities to store S&R decisions in a way that supports program oversight. • The Coast Guard does not have formal policies requiring Investigating Officers to document the reason(s) for not pursuing a preliminary case, resulting in reduced transparency. 

In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the U.S. Postal Service handled more than 11.6 million undeliverable Parcel Select packages that were scanned as return-to-sender. The Postal Service must process these packages at the post offices that serve the original delivery address and the return address. To receive these returns, the addressee must pay postage, which totaled about $138 million in FY 2024. A U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation found these packages to be vulnerable to theft. 

DOI is not consistently reducing cybersecurity risks by remediating software vulnerabilities that have been rated as the most severe.

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

The FTC Office of Inspector General conducted a performance audit to evaluate the agency’s internal controls over the offboarding process for departing employees. The audit found that the process lacks centralized coordination, resulting in incomplete tasks, inconsistent documentation, and potential security risks. The report recommends designating a single point of coordination and establishing clear policies and procedures to ensure accountability and consistency. 

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

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

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

VA is authorized by statute to procure healthcare resources from affiliates on a sole-source basis without regard to laws or regulations that require competition. VA policy requires that contracting officers request an Office of Inspector General (OIG) review or audit for any sole-source healthcare proposal with an anticipated annual value of at least $400,000. The OIG provides information that contracting officers may use as they negotiate fair and reasonable prices. In fiscal year 2024, the OIG completed 16 audits of sole-source healthcare proposals. The combined estimated contract value of these 16 preaward audits was about $300.6 million, and the OIG team identified over $121.7 million in potential cost savings. Following the OIG audits, the Veterans Health Administration sustained about $47.5 million in cost savings.

Fifteen proposals reviewed had full-time-equivalent or hourly pricing. For 13 of these proposals, the OIG determined the hourly rate pricing offered to the government was higher than the supported amounts, and the OIG recommended contracting officers obtain lower prices than those offered to the government.

One proposal reviewed had per-procedure pricing. The OIG found the affiliate offered rates higher than current Medicare rates for per-procedure pricing. In this audit, the OIG recommended reimbursement rates that were 100 percent of the current Medicare rates for the per-procedure portion of the affiliate’s proposal.

Finally, for six of the 16 contract proposals examined, the OIG found potential conflicts of interest for VA personnel who may be involved in the acquisition process and who also held a position with the affiliate. In each instance, the OIG recommended the contracting officer request an opinion from VA’s Office of General Counsel as to whether these individuals would have a financial interest in the proposal.

A key facet of the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivering for America plan is a nearly $10 billion investment to modernize its aging delivery vehicle fleet. The Postal Service plans to acquire 106,480 vehicles between fiscal years (FY) 2023-2028, 9,250 of which are E-Transits — a left-hand drive (LHD), battery electric vehicle (BEV). We previously reported that the Postal Service acquired 1,076 E-Transits between March 2023 and June 2024 (78 percent below its original plan). This audit provides an update to that report.

BLM did not comply with Federal and BLM requirements when processing applications for solar and wind renewable energy development on BLM public lands.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s planning for the 2030 census includes multiple phases. As part of the development and integration phase, the bureau will conduct its first census test in 2026, which is a trial run of activities and operations to help prepare for the decennial census. 

Conducting a census test requires recruiting and hiring temporary employees, such as enumerators, census field supervisors, outreach assistants, and census trainers. For the 2026 Census Test, the bureau’s Field Division planned a more thorough approach to preparing the staffing estimates than had been done in the past. According to Field Division management, it decided to develop a more detailed staffing plan because of proposed scope changes to field infrastructure and hiring that require robust staffing estimates. 

Our audit objective was to assess the bureau’s staffing plans and progress in meeting workforce hiring goals for the 2026 Census Test. We found that the bureau did not finalize its staffing plan for the census test. The bureau expected to finalize and approve the staffing plan and cost model by January 31, 2025, but did not because (1) data needed to prepare the plan was received later than expected or had not yet been provided and (2) the bureau did not have a procedure that documents staffing plan requirements and methodology to ensure workforce planning is done in a consistent and timely manner and according to management’s expectations. 

We made four recommendations to help the bureau improve its workforce planning and field staffing operations for the 2026 Census Test. 

At the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Supply Chain, we examined the cost proposal submitted by a contractor for (1) outage and supplemental maintenance and modification services and (2) support services at TVA’s nuclear plants.  Our examination objective was to determine if the cost proposal was fairly stated for a planned $975 million contract.

In our opinion, the cost proposal was fairly stated. Specifically, the proposed total noncraft labor burden rates for the recovery of indirect costs were supported by recent actual costs.  However, we determined the proposed noncraft wage ranges were not reflective of the actual salary costs for the contractor’s employees.  In addition, (1) the proposed rate schedule included a payroll tax rate even though the contractor indicated it could bill payroll taxes at actual costs and (2) the contractor did not propose a rate for long-term temporary assignments, as requested in the request for proposal.

The Office of the Inspector General and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) have an interagency agreement whereby the DCAA provides contract audit services for the OIG. The DCAA is responsible for the audit and ensuring compliance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. The OIG’s responsibility is to distribute the report to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) management and follow up on agency actions initiated due to this report.
The DCAA audit report, dated January 30, 2025, and its supplemental audit report, dated April 9, 2025, did not identify any questioned costs. The OIG provided a copy of the report to NRC management, along with an NRC Form 518, Audit Report Tracking. NRC management is responsible for completing the form and returning it to the OIG.
This memorandum is being issued in connection with the contract closeout actions taken by the agency. While some time has passed since the supplemental report’s issuance, this memo serves to formally convey the audit’s key conclusions, ensure proper documentation of the audit trail, and support continued alignment among stakeholders.