Federal Reports

In July 2024, VA informed Congress that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) might need an additional $12 billion in funding in fiscal year (FY) 2025 to support medical care for the last three months of FY 2024 and all of FY 2025—primarily for community care, staffing, prosthetics, and pharmacy. In August, the OIG began reviewing the causes contributing to VHA’s subsequent request for additional funds, and in September, Congress passed legislation requiring the OIG to review the circumstances that led to VA’s announced funding shortfall.

The OIG found the FY 2024 President’s Budget, which included the advance appropriations for FY 2025, relied on outdated data and assumptions, including lower-than-actual costs for new medications and both direct and community care. Also, a legislative budget cap limited VHA’s ability to increase the FY 2025 advance appropriations, although leaders believed they could keep spending within funding limits by developing cost-saving options. The goals and options that emerged from a January 2024 financial sequester did not achieve the necessary cuts, such as reducing hiring and community care obligations. In August 2024, VA requested supplemental appropriations of $12 billion to cover medical care for the rest of FY 2024 and all of FY 2025. By November, VHA had revised this estimated shortfall to $6.6 billion for only the remainder of FY 2025. Congress passed a continuing resolution in mid-March 2025 to fund VA’s remaining FY 2025 medical care at $6 billion from the Toxic Exposures Fund.

VHA concurred with the OIG’s recommendations to review how VHA projects medical care budget needs (including staffing) and to develop an approach to form more accurate estimates; consider changes to allow program offices and other experts to weigh in on inputs for model projections; and conduct fiscal reviews at least quarterly to assess key cost drivers.

Why We Did This Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General is issuing this report addressing concerns regarding access to Superfund information identified in the EPA’s annual reports to Congress.

Summary of Findings

We discovered that more than half of federal facility and some nonfederal facility Five-Year Reviews, or FYRs, are not publicly available, despite the EPA stating in its annual Superfund FYR Reports to Congress that the FYRs can be found on its “Search for Superfund Five-Year Reviews” webpage.

After meeting with more than 140 individuals from DHS and other Federal agencies, we determined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot effectively monitor the location and status of all unaccompanied alien children (UACs) once released or transferred from Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) custody. From fiscal years 2019 to 2023, ICE transferred more than 448,000 UACs to HHS; most were released to sponsors. However, more than 31,000 of the 448,000 children’s release addresses were blank, undeliverable, or missing apartment numbers. ICE also was not always aware of the location for UACs who fled HHS’ custody.

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Healthcare Facility Inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the VA Hampton Healthcare System in Virginia. 

This evaluation focused on five key content domains:
   •    Culture
   •    Environment of care
   •    Patient safety
   •    Primary care
   •    Veteran-centered safety net

The OIG issued six recommendations for improvement in three domains:
 1.    Environment of care
   •    Accessible parking space access aisles and pavement markings
   •    Crosswalk visibility and pedestrian safety
   •    Doorway safety
   •    Hand hygiene supplies
 2.    Patient safety
   •    Communication of test results
 3.    Veteran-centered safety net
   •    Social work positions

Jacksonville State University (Jacksonville State) did not always account for and expend Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funds according to Federal regulations and FEMA guidelines. Specifically, Jacksonville State did not fully comply with Federal regulations and FEMA guidelines to include federally required contract provisions in its disaster contracts. Jacksonville State’s exclusion of the required contract provisions exposed FEMA funding to unnecessary risks.

The AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General investigated potential displacement of paid staff at Hawaii Community Assets (HCA), undisclosed dual employment by a program official at HCA and Aloha United Way (AUW), and improper charging of time by two Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program officials at AUW.