Federal Reports

Quarterly Summary Memorandum for the Lead Inspector General, Department of Defense

Our objective was to determine if the U.S. Postal Service’s Highway Contract Route (HCR) contracting practices, including avoidance of conflicts of interest, are in compliance with Postal Service policies and procedures and in line with industry practices. We found that the Postal Service’s HCR contracting practices were not always in compliance with its policies and procedures regarding conflicts of interest or in line with industry practices.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) followed applicable Federal grant requirements. It is FEMA’s responsibility to hold Mississippi accountable for proper grant administration. MEMA did not provide proper oversight of a $29.9 million Hazard Mitigation grant, or follow Federal Regulations and FEMA guidelines when accounting for grant funds. As a result, FEMA has no assurance that MEMA properly accounted for and expended Federal funds.

We determined that DC's Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency resolved our previously identified issues and demonstrated improvements to its monitoring and oversight management of State Homeland Security Program and Urban Area Security Initiative grant sub-recipients. DC’s implementation of corrective actions addressed the recommendations and achieved the intended results of strengthening grant program management, performance, and oversight. We are not making any recommendations.

On October 10, 2017, a Train Attendant in Miami, Florida, was terminated from employment for a violation of company policies. Our investigation determined that the employee used Amtrak trains to ship personal packages without paying the proper shipping fees, in violation of the company’s Standards of Excellence and Service Standards for Train Service & On-Board Service Employees.