Federal Reports

When a veteran is unable to secure and maintain a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities, VA policy states that the veteran should be rated totally disabled—also referred to as total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU)—for monthly compensation. The VA OIG conducted this review to determine if claims processors were following policies and procedures and accurately deciding claims for individual unemployability. After reviewing two statistical samples of individual unemployability claims (granted and denied claims), the team found claims processors did not consistently follow policies and procedures when processing these claims, resulting in at least $100 million in improper payments (underpayments and overpayments) to veterans from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023. The team estimated that 74 percent of granted TDIU claims and 76 percent of denied TDIU claims completed during the review period had at least one claims processing error. These errors occurred because of inadequate system controls, inconsistent interpretations of VBA’s procedures manual by VBA staff, and claims processors’ limited exposure to individual unemployability claims. The OIG made seven recommendations to the under secretary for benefits to help VBA improve the accuracy of individual unemployability claims decisions. These recommendations included updating guidance, enhancing information systems, improving training, and evaluating workload distribution.

During our ongoing audit of the Department of Homeland Security’s learning management system (DHSLearning), we identified a significant risk to the operations, assets, and individuals at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). We are issuing this management alert to advise CISA and FLETC to take immediate action to mitigate risks associated with using a high-risk contractor (Contractor A) to supply their learning management systems. A DHS internal investigation identified Contractor A as having poor cybersecurity practices. By not taking action to mitigate the control deficiencies, CISA and FLETC may be putting sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive law enforcement training information stored and processed by CISA and FLETC’s learning management systems at risk of compromise.

In October 2023, we conducted on-site, unannounced inspections at five U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in the ElPaso area, specifically three U.S. Border Patrol (Border Patrol) facilities and two Office of Field Operations ports of entry. At the time of our on-site inspection, CBP held 1,426 detainees in custody in the five facilities. We found that Border Patrol held some detainees in both the El Paso Hardened Facility and Santa Teresa station longer than specified in the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search, which generally limits detention to 72 hours. Additionally, Border Patrol experienced challenges staffing El Paso sector centralized processing centersduring migrant surges. Overall, CBP generally met other applicable standards related to food, water, hygiene items, and availability of bedding, toilets, sinks, showers, and medical support to detainees. However, we found a few instances of non-compliance related to medical support, hygiene, and bedding. For example, at the Santa Teresa station, we found Border Patrol did not always refer detainees to onsite contract medical staff, make hygiene items available, or provide clean sleeping mats. In addition, we found data integrity issues with information in Border Patrol’s electronic system of record, e3.

Front-line supervisors are the first layer of management directly above craft employees and are the leaders who oversee day-to-day operations. Their interactions with employees and customers can influence productivity and morale. Additionally, they significantly contribute to the accomplishment of Postal Service goals, including ensuring customers receive quality service and their mail and parcels on time. When supervisor vacancies are not filled timely, there are risks of an increase in staff shortages — negatively affecting operations — and additional workload may strain existing supervisors.

What We Looked At The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System aims to modernize the Nation’s air traffic system and provide safer and more efficient air traffic management. The Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) program, an almost $1 billion part of this modernization effort, will address a top FAA and industry priority to improve airport surface operations. FAA is currently testing and implementing key TFDM capabilities at airports across the Nation, introducing electronic flight strips and surface management tools to improve efficiency at airports. Given the large investment in TFDM, as well as concerns about program deployment cost and schedule, the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Aviation requested that we review FAA’s current implementation plan for TFDM. Specifically, we assessed FAA’s progress in implementing TFDM, including its core capabilities. What We Found While FAA has begun to deploy TFDM, it has experienced significant delays of nearly 3 years in its deployment. A nearly 20 percent cost increase since 2016 has also caused a reduction in deployment sites from 89 to 49; therefore, increasing the estimated cost per site while decreasing planned system consolidations and functionality. Although FAA significantly reduced the program’s scope, the Agency retained the large deployment sites that are expected to provide over 90 percent of the original anticipated monetized benefits. However, funding uncertainty will remain which could impact the number of future deployment sites. Additionally, FAA and airspace users will not realize major benefits, such as fuel and carbon emissions savings, until at least 2025 and FAA continues to face implementation risks in areas such as system integration, airline participation, future cybersecurity requirements, and air traffic controller human factors and training.  Our Recommendations We made three recommendations to improve FAA’s TFDM program. The Agency concurred with all three of our recommendations and provided appropriate planned actions and completion dates. 

District of Columbia Workmen’s Compensation Act Special Fund Financial Statements and Independent Auditors’ Report September 30, 2023, and 2022