Open Recommendations

We recommend the Senior Vice President, Resource Management and Operations Services, work with the Tennessee Valley Authority Office of General Counsel and the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors to update the Tennessee Valley Authority Board Practice “Use of TVA Aircraft” to explicitly state the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Director’s intent regarding whether all travel by Tier 1 passengers should be considered required use. If the Tennessee Valley Authority Board’s intent was not that all travel by Tier 1 passengers be considered required use travel, require all requests for use of the fixed wing aircraft to identify the travel…

Work with Montana BCC to enhance its existing policies and procedures to provide substantive guidance on the nature and scope of activities monitoring personnel are expected to perform and to ensure desk reviews and on-site visits are adequately documented and the records maintained.

Work with Montana BCC to enhance its existing policies and procedures to address the issuance of management decision letters and ensure corrective action is taken on related subrecipient single audit report findings.

Work with Montana BCC to enhance its existing policies and procedures to ensure subrecipient Performance Measurement Tool (PMT) data is verified as complete and accurate.

Reassess NASA’s role in, and contribution to, the commercial lunar delivery market

Finalize a management plan with clear leadership authority and responsibility that would delineate CLPS initiative performance goals and metrics that are measurable and targeted, criteria for augmented insight, a formal lessons-learned process, and any other relevant guidelines for the management plan’s implementation

We recommend that the Division of Operations-Management establish a system of internal controls exclusive to the mail ballot process.

Implement electrical grounding equipment in all communication closets.

We recommend that USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance Cost, Audit and Support Division/Contract Audit Management Branch verify that NCA corrects the two instances of material noncompliance detailed on pages 111-2 and 111-3 of the audit report.

Review each of the 1,614 loans and 2,029 grants found to be potential improper payments made to COVID-19 EIDL recipients we identified in the finding as also being on the Treasury’s DNP List and determine if the applicants can rectify the disqualifying information; if not, recover the funds.

Direct USAC to perform a cost-benefit analysis to identify additional approaches forfurther reducing the IPR below the reporting threshold. Additional approaches couldinclude, but are not limited to, evaluating the appropriateness of the volume ofapplications assigned per reviewer, increasing the effectiveness of employee training,providing program requirement reminders and updates, adding additional layers ofreview, creating a documentation checklist to determine program eligibility, andproviding ongoing coaching to educate staff on the Lifeline Program requirements,including documentation requirements relating to eligibility. [New]

Develop and implement policies and procedures to identify, quantify, and report in theOMB Annual Data Call any downward revisions that are submitted by providers resultingfrom provider non-compliant conduct. [New]

We recommend the DHS Chief Information Officer strengthen its oversight to ensure components adhere to DHS’ policies to remediate all known information security weaknesses in a timely manner and obtain the Authority to Operate for their systems.

We recommend the DHS Chief Information Officer resolve any conflicting guidance on prioritizing information security weaknesses by reviewing all Department policies and procedures to determine whether revision is needed and to ensure DHS’ policies and procedures are clearly defined and consistent with applicable OMB requirements.

The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should finalize and execute the plan to rebalance the adjustment source document workload across the Tax Processing Centers.

Mitigate identified risks for all legacy systems, develop a plan of action and milestones to enforce timely mitigation of identified risks related to legacy systems and report the status of mitigations as defined in the Corporate Information Security Office's plan of action and milestones to the Corporate Information Security Office.

Submit the annual reports for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to Congress as required by the Clean Water Act.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption (CGAC), assess CGAC’s organizational placement in accordance with the Government Accountability Office’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government.

OIG recommends that the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption (CGAC), in coordination with the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, take steps to establish CGAC in accordance with the December 2021 Secretary of State action memorandum and using appropriate Foreign Affairs Manual processes.

OIG recommends that the Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption (CGAC) develop and submit a Foreign Affairs Manual entry that establishes the offices organizational structure in accordance with Recommendations 1 and 2 and formally codifies CGACs roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines in its efforts to achieve national anti-corruption goals and objectives.

1. We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration implement internal controls to ensure that changes in duty stations are initiated and processed timely.

2. We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration review duty station changes processed since the return to office to determine whether untimely initiation or processing resulted in incorrect employee locality pay. Recover any excess salary amounts paid to employees in accordance with Departmental policy.

3. We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration regularly track and determine whether all teleworking Department employees are meeting the schedule requirement for 2 days in the office per pay period. For employees failing to meet this requirement take action to ensure that the agency has assigned the proper locality pay and telework or remote work status to the employees and prevent or address any overpayment of salary amounts paid to the employees in accordance with Departmental policy.

4. We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration implement internal controls to ensure employees are following the requirements of their telework or remote work agreements and temporary exceptions are properly documented.

Review and take appropriate action (for example, verify the beneficiaries’ vital status, input death information, terminate payment records, initiate recovery of improper payments) on the remaining cases in our population of 1,596 beneficiaries reported as deceased in State Department records.

Work with State Department officials and develop an electronic method to timely report death information for U.S. citizens who die abroad.

Work with State Department officials to timely forward reports of death abroad when State Department obtains a first-party report of death.

Ensure vulnerabilities are remediated within the Office of Information and Technologys established time frames. (This is a repeat recommendation from the prior site inspection.)

We recommend that USAID's Deputy Administrator for Policy and Programming: Direct the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean to develop and implement an action plan to ensure missions' compliance with Automated Directives System Chapter 206 and 303 requirements for pre-award risk management procedures that includes steps to make sure (a) overseas leadership at posts designated as covered countries are aware of their responsibility to implement and document compliance with Automated Directives System Chapter 206, including the determination process (i.e., post advance review), and (b) all signed certification and assurance statements required by Automated Directives System Chapter 303 Section 3.8…

We recommend that USAID's Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Management: Direct the Office of Acquisition and Assistance to incorporate reference to USAID's Risk Appetite Statement and enterprise risk management guidance, including the seven-step risk management process found in Automated Directives System 596, into the agency's pre-award risk management procedures in Automated Directives System Chapter 303.

1. We recommended that the Department's Senior Procurement Executive and Director of Acquisition Management conduct an acquisition management review to assess the FirstNet Authority acquisition functions and determine if adequate contract files exist to properly support decisions.

2. We recommended that the Department's Senior Procurement Executive and Director of Acquisition Management review the actions taken to execute the contract and task order modifications identified in this report and determine whether, under law, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and/or Department policy, actions should be taken to review, revoke, or revise the warrants used to execute the modifications.

3. We recommended that the Department's Senior Procurement Executive and Director of Acquisition Management determine whether, in order to comply with applicable federal and Department regulations, FirstNet Authority should be required to submit all future contract awards and modifications to the Department for review prior to award.

4. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to ensure the required justification and pricing analysis are conducted and documented for all contract modifications to ensure compliance with FAR section 43.1.

5. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to ensure compliance with FAR section 32.104 by determining if (1) AT&T will not be able to bill for the first delivery of products for a substantial time after work must begin (normally 6 months) and (2) the expenses for contract performance during the predelivery period will have a significant impact on AT&T's working capital when using contract financing.

6. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to ensure compliance with Commerce Acquisition Manual 1301.71 and obtain legal reviews from the Department's Contract Law Division for all contract modifications when the services are materially changing.

7. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to leverage the remediation options in the contract to hold AT&T accountable and take the necessary actions to address deficiencies when AT&T is either not on track to meet or not meeting contract terms.

8. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to revise FirstNet Authority's Acquisition Review Board Review Process and Procedures to define what is considered a "significant modification" and to ensure results of ARB meetings are documented in compliance with FAR section 4.803.

9. We recommended that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator direct FirstNet Authority's Chief Executive Officer to ensure the Chief Procurement Officer provides oversight to verfy that contract modifications are sufficiently supported, justified, in compliance with the FAR, and in the best interests of the government and first responders.

Update the Bank Secrecy Act scope tasks and questions within the Modern Examination and Risk Identification Tool to ensure examiners complete and document all necessary steps during Bank Secrecy Act examinations and direct examiners to use additional external guidance such as the National Supervision Policy Manual, Examiner’s Guide, and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council BSA/AML Manual, as needed.

Meet with the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), no less often than annually, to discuss the operation of the Memorandum of Understanding and to identify any issues or adjustments that may be required. Document any revised agreements and update the agency’s policies to communicate the FinCEN reporting requirements and information needed from the regions and the Office of National Examinations and Supervision.

Develop and implement an efficient process that ensures the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and validity of information obtained from the agency’s Modern Examination and Risk Identification Tool, such as establishing reports, to meet the agency’s Bank Secrecy Act reporting objectives, including communicating information in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding and other agreement(s) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Revise the content of the NCUA’s Enforcement Manual to include current policies, procedures, and responsibilities for the NCUA’s formal enforcement actions and ensure its content is consistent with other agency policies. Regularly review this guidance for continued relevance and effectiveness in achieving the agency’s objectives.

We recommend that OPM issue an improper payment estimate for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program's that will allow them to be in compliance with the four PIIA requirements for future reporting years.

We recommend that Retirement Services develop and implement additional cost-effective corrective actions, aimed at the root causes of improper payments, to further reduce the improper payments rate.

The Mint Director ensures the Mint considers additional procedures to oversee refiners including, but not limited to, obtaining and periodically reviewing documentation from the Mint’s approved refineries, such as the LBMA-required third party audits and supporting documentation, to ensure that refineries are sourcing gold responsibly in accordance with U.S. law and the best interests of the U.S. Government.

The Mint Director ensures the Mint within 30 days of issuance of this report, develops a plan that outlines the steps and controls the Mint will implement to comply with Public Law 99-185 and Public Law 109-145 in the production of gold coins which includes a review of the Mint’s current methodology to ensure it complies with U.S. law. As part of this review, the Mint should publish its procedures for acquiring newly mined U.S. gold in the Federal Register. Furthermore, the Mint needs to update its website for accuracy and its BOAs and operating procedures to ensure that these…

Review the two loans in our sample that did not receive appropriate servicing and take administrative actions if appropriate.

We recommend that the Chief Financial Officer for the Department develop and implement procedures to ensure that thesampling populations of drawdowns are complete for the basis of calculating the improper payment and unknown paymentestimates.