Federal Reports

An investigation of alleged misuse of government resources by an FEC employee.

This report communicates the results of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) audit of the FTC’s contractor invoice processes.

An Amtrak Conductor based in Jacksonville, Florida, signed a deferred prosecution agreement in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, State of Florida, on December 22, 2023. The charges will be dismissed if the employee fulfills the terms of the agreement. Our investigation found that the employee attempted to sell high-security railroad switch keys on Facebook Marketplace. The employee was previously suspended from employment without pay in lieu of termination for a period of 67 days.

The objective of our audit was to determine whether USPTO’s processes and activities for acquisition planning are effective and consistent with established practices, procedures, and regulations. Overall, we found that USPTO’s processes and activities for acquisition planning were ineffective and not consistent with established regulations, policies, and procedures. Specifically, we found the following:I. USPTO’s policies and procedures did not provide sufficient guidance on the use of its Patent and Trademark Office Acquisition Guidelines acquisition procedures. II. USPTO did not retain key documents, and documents developed during acquisition planning were insufficient and not supported. III. USPTO did not adhere to federal regulations relating to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Business Development program (the 8(a) Program).

We contracted with Ernst & Young LLP (EY), an independent certified public accounting firm, to perform the audit. This management letter summarizes EY’s findings and recommendations related to PBGC’s internal control deficiencies and other matters. The issues noted in this report are not significant; and, therefore, the deficiencies were not required to be reported in the Independent Auditor’s Report (AUD-2024-02) issued on November 15, 2023. In FY 2023 EY had issued four new recommendations and closed 14 prior years' recommendations with the total of six open recommendation remaining at the end of FY 2023. EY will continue working with PBGC to resolve these recommendations.

Our objective was to review and report information about USDA’s use of social media for transparency and disclosure.