Federal Reports

Reporting Required by Government Auditing Standards section is solely to describe the scope of our testing of internal control and compliance with selected provisions of applicable laws, regulations.

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.Our objectives were to (1) determine the level of risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases and payments; (2) determine the scope, frequency, and number of audits or reviews to be conducted on the basis of a risk assessment; and (3) address the requirements of the Charge Card Act, OMB, and General Services Administration (GSA) requirements and standards. This was our first audit of DFC’s compliance with the Charge Card Act.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Office of Inspector General (DFC OIG) contracted with RMA Associates, LLC to audit DFC’s compliance with the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021. Our objectives were to (1) assess the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and quality of the second quarter fiscal year 2021 financial and award data submitted by DFC for publication on USASpending.gov; and (2) assess DFC’s implementation and use of the government-wide financial data standards established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Department of the Treasury. This was our first audit of DFC’s compliance with the DATA Act.

Providing training on religious compensatory time to all EPA supervisors and employees would decrease the potential for employee misuse, as well as the Agency’s monetary liability.

Using a risk-based, tiered approach to focus our limited resources, AIE will initiate work in nine focus areas in 2022 – 2023.

Since at least the early 2000s, the trucking industry has warned of a shortage of truck drivers. It is estimated there was a shortage of 80,000 drivers in 2021, and it has impacted the Postal Service, which relies on a large surface-transportation network that includes over 9,000 USPS employees driving local Postal Vehicle Service routes and about 1,750 contracted suppliers that primarily drive longer-haul highway contract routes (HCRs).The driver shortage has contributed to more overtime hours for existing PVS drivers and costs for HCRs, including costs per mile, which increased 18 percent from October 2017 to September 2021. In addition, the shortage creates performance challenges for HCRs.The OIG identified several strategies to mitigate the impact of the driver shortage on the Postal Service. Potential strategies involve improving recruitment and retention of PVS drivers as well as focusing on the driver experience for both PVS and HCR operations. Other strategies include strengthening relationships with suppliers and increasing truck utilization. Mitigating the impact of the driver shortage is essential to control costs and ensure capacity is available for highway transportation of mail.

We found that between 2014 and 2017, a tribal administrator embezzled $158,063.35 from a tribe through unauthorized checks and debit card purchases.

The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) did not execute allresearch and development (R&D) projects in accordance with Federal and DHS guidelines, policies, andprocedures.

The objective is to determine to what extent FEMA ensured states and territories distributed supplemental state lost wages assistance (LWA) from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to eligible recipients.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews nonpharmaceutical proposals submitted to the VA National Acquisition Center (NAC) for Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts valued annually at $10 million or more for high tech medical equipment, $3 million or more for all other FSS contracts, $100,000 or more based on manufacturer sales under dealers or resellers, or as requested by the NAC. These preaward reviews help contracting officers negotiate fair and reasonable prices for the government and taxpayers. The reviews are not published because they contain proprietary commercial information protected from release under the Trade Secrets Act.To promote transparency, this report summarizes the 103 preaward reviews of the NAC’s nonpharmaceutical proposals conducted by the OIG during fiscal years 2018–2020. The 103 proposals had a cumulative estimated contract value of about $8.1 billion and included 129,390 offered items. Contracting officers have completed negotiations on all these proposals.The OIG determined commercial disclosures were accurate, complete, and current for only 24 of the 103 proposals reviewed. This means 24 proposals were reliable for determining negotiation objectives and fair and reasonable pricing. The remaining 79 could not reliably be used for negotiations until the noted deficiencies were corrected. The OIG recommended lower prices than offered for 76 proposals. The OIG’s lower pricing recommendations resulted in the NAC awarding contracts or modifications with cost savings of about $242.4 million over the life of the contracts. For the 103 proposals reviewed, the OIG determined the proposed tracking customers for 35 were inadequate. Where possible, the OIG recommended different tracking customers, generally among the vendor’s largest commercial customers or the “All Commercial Customers” category.The OIG did not make any additional recommendations.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report provides a focused evaluation of the quality of care delivered in the inpatient and outpatient settings of the James J. Peters VA Medical Center and related outpatient clinics in New York. The inspection covered key clinical and administrative processes associated with promoting quality care. For this inspection, the areas of focus were Leadership and Organizational Risks; COVID-19 Pandemic Readiness and Response; Quality, Safety, and Value; Registered Nurse Credentialing; Medication Management: Remdesivir Use in VHA; Mental Health: Emergency Department and Urgent Care Center Suicide Risk Screening and Evaluation; Care Coordination: Inter-facility Transfers; and High-Risk Processes: Management of Disruptive and Violent Behavior.At the time of the review, the leadership team had worked together for approximately eight months, although most had served in their positions for more than a year. Employee survey responses revealed that the Associate Director and Associate Director for Patient Care Services/Chief Nurse Executive had opportunities to reduce staff feelings of moral distress, while the Associate Director also had opportunities to improve servant leadership behavior. Patient survey data implied general satisfaction with the care provided; however, opportunities existed to improve inpatient care satisfaction and access to outpatient care. Review of accreditation findings, sentinel events, and disclosures identified organizational risk factors associated with sentinel event and institutional disclosure processes. Executive leaders were knowledgeable within their scope of responsibilities about VHA data and factors contributing to poorly performing quality and efficiency measures.The OIG issued five recommendations for improvement in two areas:(1) Quality, Safety, and Value• Peer review processes• Surgical workgroup meeting attendance and surgical death reviews(2) High-Risk Processes• Disruptive behavior committee meeting attendance• Staff training

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

The U.S. Postal Service spent about $3 billion to transport mail via air in fiscal year (FY) 2021, an increase of about $53 million over FY 2020. These costs consisted of contracted services from [redacted], commercial airlines, [redacted] , auxiliary transportation, supplemental ad hoc charters, and terminal handling services (THS) operations.The air network relies on Postal Service processing facilities to tender mail timely and to use volume arrival profiles (VAP) to support efficiency in THS operations. The VAP details the hourly percentage of mail Postal Service facilities are required to deliver to THS facilities while still allowing THS personnel enough time to prepare and tender the mail to the appropriate airline.

This report addresses the extent to which GAO has established effective internal control to collectdebts owed to the agency by current and former employees in a timely manner, and consistentwith federal requirements and GAO policy.

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

Management Advisory on FTC Records Management

The SEC Can Improve in Several Areas Related to Hiring, Report No. 572

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

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this evaluation to assess the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) processes for reviewing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for eligibility and forgiveness.SBA’s online loan forgiveness platform used by lenders to submit forgiveness requests is adequate to support SBA’s loan review process. However, we found that for some loans, totaling $66.4 billion, SBA did not meet the 90-day statutory requirement to remit forgiveness payments to lenders. SBA did not meet the 90-day requirement for 98.2 percent of loans over $2 million. Not completing reviews of loans and remitting payment promptly creates uncertainty for borrowers and PPP lenders who are unsure if SBA will forgive their loans.We also identified other matters that SBA should address, including how SBA made changes to allow certain loans to be reviewed for fraud and eligibility after they have been forgiven. We have concerns about the effects these changes will have on SBA’s ability to recover funds for forgiven loans later determined to be ineligible. Outstanding loan forgiveness applications are a potential indicator of fraud. Borrowers who fraudulently obtained a PPP loan are unlikely to apply for loan forgiveness. We identified 1.9 million loans totaling $177.3 billion with no forgiveness application as of May 2021.We recommended that SBA develop a plan to ensure remaining forgiveness reviews and remittances are completed within 90 days as required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. SBA management agreed with the report finding and recommendation.

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

We found safety concerns and other deficiencies at the USPP’s dispatch center that undermine its ability to achieve its core public safety mission.

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, as amended, established the Board of Governors (Board), which is comprised of nine governors appointed by the president of the United States, the postmaster general, and the deputy postmaster general. While the members of the Board changed through the year, there was a full Board as of September 30, 2021.The Board reviews the Postal Service’s practices and policies and establishes objectives and goals in accordance with Title 39 of the U.S. Code. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the Board incurred over $928,000 in travel, meeting, and other expenses, including about $758,000 for professional and other services.

The DOI did not track FOIA reviews under its now-rescinded awareness review process, and our analysis of the process suggested a lack of clarity.

The OIG confirmed that an Office of Research and Development laboratory contractor’s inappropriate manipulation of air filter data and failure to follow applicable EPA and project guidance resulted in data for 95 air filter samples being rendered unusable. An EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards audit concluded that the air filter data “cannot be used due to data quality and integrity issues.”

An Amtrak conductor based in Miami, Florida, was suspended from his position on February 24, 2022, for failing to report a conviction and two driver’s license suspensions related to alcohol. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by failing to report these actions to the company. Prior to his administrative hearing, the employee signed a waiver accepting responsibility and agreed to attend Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counseling. The employee was held out of service without pay until he was cleared by EAP to return to work. The employee served an 81-day suspension.

Objective: To respond to questions from the Subcommittee on Social Security regarding how many employees and visitors had entered Social Security Administration (SSA) offices since the Agency closed its offices; what work was being performed in the offices; and how SSA was ensuring the safety of employees and visitors in its offices.

As part of our annual audit plan, we audited costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Jacobs Technology Inc. (Jacobs) under Contract No. 11163 for construction management services, including design, construction, and project support at various TVA facilities. Our audit objective was to determine if costs were billed in accordance with the contract's terms. Our audit scope included about $21.3 million in costs billed to TVA from July 20, 2017, through April 29, 2020. All of the costs billed by Jacobs during our audit period were for cost-reimbursable projects.In summary, we determined Jacobs overbilled TVA $504,063, including (1) $322,596 in unsupported and ineligible temporary living allowances and travel costs, (2) $73,188 in labor costs, and (3) $108,279 in payroll tax and insurance costs for 2018 and 2019 because costs were not adjusted to actual costs at year end as required by the contract. In addition, Jacobs also informed us that it had not performed a payroll tax and insurance adjustment for calendar years 2017 and 2020. We also identified opportunities for TVA to improve contract administration by ensuring the contract does not include conflicting contract language.(Summary Only)

This report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of Efficiency of Operations at the Portland Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in Portland, OR (Project Number 22-028). We conducted this audit to provide U.S. Postal Service management with timely information on operational risks at this P&DC. The Portland P&DC is in the Pacific Northwest Division and processes letters, flats, and parcels; and it services multiple 3-digit ZIP Codes in urban and rural communities. We judgmentally selected the Portland P&DC based on overtime, penalty overtime, and late and extra trips by Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) and Highway Contract Route (HCR) drivers.

The EPA Office of Grants and Debarment does not know the full extent to which program offices and regions have implemented grant flexibilities and exceptions permitted by the Office of Management and Budget due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Office of Grants and Debarment tracked grants that received flexibilities through its issued class waivers and regulatory exceptions but did not track grants that received flexibilities and exceptions approved by program offices and regions. The lack of agencywide tracking of grant flexibilities and exceptions hindered the Agency’s ability to assess how the coronavirus pandemic impacted the grant process.

We did not substantiate allegations that a company or its contractors, provided BSEE false information in response to an incident of noncompliance.

The U.S. Postal Service has 50 authorized officer positions, including the postmaster general, deputy postmaster general, and all vice presidents. Forty-four positions were active during fiscal year (FY) 2021. Officers filed 364 expense reimbursement requests totaling $417,075.Further, the Postal Service hired limited-term contract employees (contract employees) that were not officers, but management elected for their travel reimbursement requests to receive the same level of review as officers. During FY 2021, the contract employees filed 91 reimbursement requests, totaling $157,755.

A Cleaner based in Sunnyside Yard, New York, was terminated on February 17, 2022, after his disciplinary hearing for theft of supplies. During the joint investigation with the Amtrak Police Department, we found that the employee—along with his supervisor—violated company policies by stealing company property. Both employees admitted to taking the company property without permission or authority to do so. The supervisor resigned on February 4, 2022, after being interviewed by our office. Both employees are ineligible for rehire.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed a complaint that employees at the Central Plains Consolidated Patient Account Center (CPAC) in Leavenworth, Kansas, mismanaged veterans’ billing addresses at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System in Minnesota. The complainant claimed billing statements were mailed to outdated addresses, returned to the medical facility, and subsequently referred to debt collection without veterans’ knowledge.The OIG partially substantiated the allegation: VA billed veterans using outdated addresses from one file within its record system while newer information was available from another file in the same system. This may have resulted in bills intended for veterans being returned. Some of those accounts were previously referred for collection, but the OIG could not establish whether they were referred because veterans did not receive the bills.The Minneapolis healthcare system provided 284 examples of returned billing statements from the time noted in the allegations. The team reviewed 30 of the statements and determined 18 were mailed using an outdated address when a more current address was available. Beyond the examples provided, the facility did not maintain records of returned bills, and VA policy does not require it.The OIG found VHA lacked defined processes for managing returned billing statements and communicating incorrect addresses for correction. As a result, bills may continue to be sent to outdated addresses, and accounts may be referred for collection without notice to a responsible party. This can result in unanticipated financial demands on veterans and fees being added without proper notice.The OIG recommended the acting under secretary for health evaluate and correct address data for first party billing statements. VHA should also periodically review and reconcile address data. Finally, policies detailing roles, responsibilities, and procedures for remediating returned bills and steps for flagging and updating outdated addresses should be improved.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report provides a focused evaluation of Veterans Health Administration facilities’ selected mental health program requirements. This evaluation focused on suicide prevention coordinator processes, provision of suicide prevention care, and suicide prevention training.This report describes mental health-related findings from healthcare inspections that were initiated at 36 Veterans Health Administration medical facilities from November 4, 2019, through September 21, 2020, and electronic health record review at five additional facilities. Each inspection involved interviews with facility leaders and staff, and reviews of clinical and administrative processes. The results in this report are a snapshot of Veterans Health Administration performance at the time of the fiscal year 2020 OIG reviews.The OIG found general compliance with many of the selected requirements. However, the OIG identified weaknesses in various key mental health-related processes and issued four recommendations related to:• completion of four follow-up visits within the required time frame,• appropriate follow-up of veterans with high-risk patient record flags who do not attend mental health appointments,• suicide prevention training, and• completion of five monthly outreach activities.

This memorandum transmits the Office of Inspectors General’s (OIG) snapshot of FEC open recommendations as of February 2022. As required by the Inspector General Act of 1978, (IG Act), the OIG is responsible for, among other things, conducting and supervising audits and investigations that recommend improvements to the FEC’s programs and operations. The enclosed snapshot is available to the public on Oversight.gov and can be exported at any time. The snapshot contains embedded weblinks to the accompanying OIG reports with detailed descriptions of each recommendation.

MEMORANDUM FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE LEAD INSPECTOR GENERAL

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) directs Inspectors General to conduct an annual evaluation of the agency information security program. FISMA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establish information technology (IT) security guidance and standards for Federal agencies. We conducted this evaluation to assess the overall effectiveness of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s information security program, assess their compliance with Federal guidance, and respond to OMB reporting questions for the fiscal year 2021 annual assessment. The OIG has determined that the contents of this report would not be appropriate for public disclosure and has therefore limited its distribution to selected officials.

Our objective was to evaluate the U.S. Postal Service’s management of city letter carrier routes. The Postal Service’s mission is to provide prompt, reliable, and efficient mail and package shipping services to all Americans. In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the Postal Service’s City Delivery Operations delivered over 77.7 billion mail pieces on more than 140,000 city routes. Mail is delivered on these routes by more than 171,000 city letter carriers and over 34,000 city carrier assistants.City Delivery Operations consist of two components – office and street operations. A city letter carrier route is comprised of both assigned office duties, such as casing mail, as well as street duties, like collecting and delivering mail to customers. Management should review each city carrier route’s baseline workload (e.g., assigned delivery points and volume) annually to ensure it is equivalent to a standard 8-hour workday. To maintain an 8-hour workday, delivery supervisors monitor efficiency and adjust for changes in workload. They use several methods including street observations, minor route adjustments, and mail count and route inspections. Supervisors record these results in the Delivery Operation Information System (DOIS), which allows them to manage routes and letter carrier assignments daily.Since FY 2015, the Postal Service experienced a significant change in the mail mix, resulting in a 16 percent decrease in First-Class Mail volume and a 62 percent increase in package volume. Even prior to the dramatic package growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic in FY 2020, package volume had increased steadily over the previous ten years, except in FY 2019 when volume flattened due to competition. As a result, city letter carriers delivered fewer letters and flats and more packages, which are often larger and take more time to deliver. With about 80 percent of a letter carrier’s day spent on the street, supervisors must monitor and record any changes in the volume profile or other workload factors to ensure that each route can be accomplished in an 8-hour workday.For this audit, the OIG reviewed nationwide city letter carrier route data and conducted a review of 12 judgmentally selected delivery units in 11 districts from the four areas.

The former Secretary remained involved in a land development project and did not disclose his involvement when questioned by an ethics official.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center (facility) in West Virginia to assess allegations of failure to schedule a Care in the Community (CITC) COVID Priority 1 cardiology consult within Veterans Health Administration requirements, and delays in CITC consult scheduling caused by inadequate CITC staffing.The OIG substantiated that a COVID Priority 1 CITC cardiology consult was not scheduled within 30 days of the clinically indicated date. The OIG determined that the consult was amongst a backlog of approximately 5,000 various specialty CITC consults that were unscheduled. Additionally, facility CITC staff failed to create action plans to improve failed metrics; maximize use of available reports to manage consults; conduct clinical reviews of unscheduled consults; and develop a process to review potential adverse events occurring because of delayed consults. The OIG also learned that confusion surrounding priority and urgency status categories resulted in workarounds by other departments to avoid further delays in patient care.The OIG substantiated that inadequate staffing within the facility’s CITC Service caused delays in the scheduling of CITC consults. Contributing factors included reports of frequent staff turnover, outdated local CITC processes and lack of training, staff absences, and lack of alternative work options during the COVID-19 pandemic.The OIG made one recommendation to the Veterans Integrated Service Network Director related to monitoring the facility’s CITC Improvement Action Plans, progress, timelines, and next steps.The OIG made seven recommendations to the Facility Director related to CITC Improvement Action Plans, COVID Priority 1 report reviews, implementation of a clinical review process for unscheduled COVID Priority 1 consults and consults in which the patient died prior to being scheduled, evaluation of backlog management strategies, review of appointment scheduling occurring in departments outside CITC, and ensuring adequate CITC staffing levels.