Federal Reports

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.