Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) assessed VA’s compliance with requirements to report staffing and vacancy data on its public-facing website and the clarity of related explanations. VA is mandated to publicly release this information each quarter under the Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks (MISSION) Act of 2018 to promote transparency in personnel management. The MISSION Act also requires the OIG to review VA’s data-reporting website and make recommendations for improvement. After discussions with the review team, VA took action to correct its time-to-hire calculation starting with the June 2022 quarterly report to include every required step of the hiring process. VA also explained OIG-identified discrepancies in its June 2022 report after the review team discussed them with responsible officials. Consequently, the OIG did not make further recommendations on these issues. The review team found that VA could strengthen its explanation of vacant positions to show that the data were rounded and included part-time positions. VA agreed and included that information beginning with the April 2022 staffing and vacancy report. Additionally, the team observed that VA could increase the value of its reported information by summarizing and identifying trends in the expanded time-to-hire data, as done with the vacancy, onboarding, and gains and losses information published under the MISSION Act. In response, VA added summary tab information beginning in June 2022 that interpreted the new time to hire data requirements.The OIG made two recommendations: (1) request legislative relief from Congress on data it is unable to report or (2) ensure data limitations are clearly explained that preclude VA from reporting all elements of time-to-hire data under the Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act.

Inspector General Semiannual Report

Ever since Congress created the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), we have consistently delivered for American taxpayers. As an independent watchdog, SIGTARP has a proven record of identifying waste, abuse, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, and risk in EESA programs.As a law enforcement office, SIGTARP has a proven record of identifying and investigating fraud and other crimes. SIGTARP investigations have resulted in the recovery of more than $11.3 billion while coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other law enforcement agencies to criminally prosecute 469 defendants - 318 of them sentenced to prison, including 74 bankers. Our investigations have also resulted in enforcement actions against 25 corporations/entities, including enforcement actions against many of the largest U.S. financial institutions.

DNFSB-23-A-01 Inspector General’s Assessment of the Most Serious Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in Fiscal Year 2023, dated October 28, 2022

The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires each inspector general to prepare an annual statement summarizing what the inspector general considers to be “the most serious management and performance challenges facing the agency” and to briefly assess the agency’s progress in addressing those challenges.We identified eight top management challenges for the EPA for fiscal year 2023:1. Mitigating the Causes and Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change. The EPA must take a leadership role in addressing climate change and mitigating its effect on human health and the environment.2. Integrating and Leading Environmental Justice Across the Agency and Government. The EPA must identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on environmental justice communities.3. Providing for the Safe Use of Chemicals. The public must be able to depend on the EPA’s ability to conduct credible and timely assessments of the risks posed by pesticides, toxic chemicals, and other environmental chemicals.4. Safeguarding Scientific Integrity Principles. The EPA must ground science-based decisions in principles of scientific integrity to ensure that human health and the environment are protected by using the best-available science.5. Ensuring Agency Systems and Other Critical Infrastructure Are Protected Against Cyberthreats. Information technology is a fundamental and essential resource for the EPA to carry out its mission, and the Agency must ensure its systems and our nation’s critical infrastructure are protected against cyberthreats.6. Managing Business Operations and Resources. The EPA must have effective business operations to achieve its mission and safeguard taxpayer dollars.7. Enforcing Compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations. Through enforcement, the EPA ensures that regulated entities are following environmental laws and will continue to do so, as enforcement actions effectively deter future noncompliance.8. Managing Increased Investment in Infrastructure. The EPA must ensure that its infrastructure projects, which constitute the Agency’s largest investment, use Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriations effectively.