Federal Reports

We contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Sikich CPA LLC to audit the financial statements of HUD as of and for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2024 and 2023, and to provide reports on HUD’s (1) internal control over financial reporting and (2) compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters, including whether financial management systems complied substantially with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA).  Our contract with Sikich required that the audit be performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, Office of Management and Budget audit requirements, and the Financial Audit Manual of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.

In its audit of HUD, Sikich reported

That HUD’s financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
No material weaknesses for fiscal year 2024 in internal control over financial reporting, based on limited procedures performed.
One significant deficiency for fiscal year 2024 in internal control over financial reporting, based on the limited procedures performed.  The significant deficiency was related to HUD’s financial reporting controls over grant accruals.  
No reportable noncompliance issues for fiscal year 2024 with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements or other matters.
In connection with the contract, we reviewed Sikich’s reports and related documentation and questioned its representatives.  Our review, as differentiated from an audit of the financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, was not intended to enable us to express and we do not express opinions on HUD’s financial statements or conclusions about (1) the effectiveness of HUD’s internal control over financial reporting; (2) HUD’s compliance with laws, regulations, contracts,  and grant agreements or other matters; or (3) whether HUD’s financial management systems complied substantially with the three FFMIA requirements.  Sikich is responsible for the attached Independent Auditors’ Report, dated November 15, 2024, and the conclusions expressed therein.  Our review disclosed no instances in which Sikich did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards.

HUD’s financial statements are included in HUD’s Agency Financial Report which can be found at afr2024.pdf.

The CFTC OIG contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Williams, Adley & Company, LLP (Williams Adley) to audit the financial statements of CFTC as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2023, and 2024, to provide a report on internal control over financial reporting, report on compliance with laws and other matters, and provide an opinion on whether CFTC’s financial management systems complied substantially with the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA).

Our Objective(s)To perform a quality control review (QCR) of KPMG, LLP's audit of FAA's financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024, and September 30, 2023. We reviewed KPMG's report, dated November 8, 2024, and related documentation.
About This ReportWe contracted with the independent public accounting firm KPMG, LLP to audit FAA's financial statements, provide an opinion on those financial statements, report on internal control over financial reporting, and report on compliance with laws and other matters.
What We FoundThe independent auditor, KPMG, found no significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that it considered to be a material weakness.
Our QCR disclosed no instances in which KPMG did not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted Government auditing standards.
RecommendationsKPMG made no recommendations.

Package Manager is part of the Centralized Benefits Communication Management Program introduced in 2018 to modernize VBA mailing. The application bundles documents from veterans’ electronic claims folders and standard enclosures into virtual packages for printing and mailing. Employees then must click a “send” button to move the package to a centralized print vendor. If a send button is not clicked, the package for that recipient remains unsent.

The review team found that, due to a lack of oversight, about 2.1 million packages created from January 2018 through October 2022 were still unsent as of November 10, 2022. After reviewing statistical samples of unsent packages, the OIG team estimated about 801,000 of the 2.1 million packages lacked evidence of the letters being sent to one or more of the intended recipients.

VBA leaders did not establish controls for unsent packages because they did not anticipate that employees would create packages but not send them. Furthermore, quality reviews by VBA had not identified a trend of employees failing to send packages.

While some unsent packages did not affect veterans’ benefits, others might have, such as those requesting evidence for claims that were ultimately denied. In these cases, VBA did not fulfill its requirement to help veterans obtain evidence. The OIG team could not determine what would have happened had these letters been sent. Still other packages included required letters notifying veterans of decisions on their claims. These notices are critical so that veterans understand the decisions’ effects on their benefits and options for seeking further review.

The OIG recommended that the under secretary for benefits implement plans to provide oversight for unsent packages and to address packages the team identified in this review as unsent.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a national review to evaluate Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s) implementation of the PACT Act of 2022, which mandated veteran toxic exposure screenings, and required clinical staff training.

Section 603 of the PACT Act mandated that, within 90 days of the date of enactment, VHA implement a health screen to identify potential toxic exposures during military service. The Act requires VHA to screen veterans and address issues specific to toxic exposures during military service.

VHA developed a method of screening, and as of November 30, 2023, screened over four million of the nine million enrolled veterans. VHA also complied with requirements to train clinical staff to “identify, treat, and assess the impact on veterans of illnesses related to toxic exposures.”

VHA issued memorandums to Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and facility directors requiring additional toxic exposure screening training for clinical staff. However, 21.4 percent of clinical staff completed training prior to performing a screening during the period November 8, 2022, through January 9, 2023. Although training compliance increased after VHA issued additional guidance in January 2023, many veterans were likely screened by clinical staff who had not completed training.

The OIG did not assess the impact of screening on primary care workload, but VHA leaders acknowledged toxic exposure screening adds to workload and had not evaluated nor considered mitigating efforts for the additional workload burden.

The OIG made two recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health related to assessing training noncompliance and evaluating the impact of toxic exposure screening on primary care.

This report presents the results of our audits of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ending September 30, 2024, and 2023.