We conducted a limited review of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer’s (OCPO) administration of five procurement activities under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act and related Office of Management and Budget memorandums gave HUD flexibility in modifying existing contracts and required rapid delivery of CARES Act funds. Our objective was to determine what HUD had done to accommodate contractors’ pandemic-related issues while ensuring that HUD met its business objectives. In addition...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

U.S. Postal Service OIG

COVID-19 Leave Administration

Our objective was to assess the Postal Service’s management of its employees’ use of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Although the FFCRA expired on December 31, 2020, the Postal Service continued to allow liberal leave usage for employees who had a sickness related to COVID‑19. On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law. This Act is similar to the FFCRA in that it created a new type of leave. Effective March 12, 2021, and continuing through September 30, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act provides...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 6/16/2021

Department of Defense OIG

Audit of the Reimbursement for Department of Defense Mission Assignments for Coronavirus Disease–2019 Pandemic Response in the U.S. Northern Command Area of Responsibility

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 6/09/2021

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0001 - Closed

Rec. 1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy Comptroller (Program/Budget), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD, in coordination with DoD Component comptrollers, initiate a review of all COVID-19 pandemic response mission assignments to ensure reimbursement requests for costs incurred are submitted in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0002.a - Closed

Rec. 2.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Army Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), immediately require tasked units to review costs incurred for mission assignments 4480DR-NY-DOD-10, 4480DR-NY-DOD-11, 4480DR-NY-DOD-12, and 4481DR-WA-DOD-02 as of July 31, 2020, for completeness and accuracy, and submit reimbursement requests for those costs with required documentation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0002.b - Closed

Rec. 2.b: The DoD OIG recommended that the Assistant Director of the Office of Budget Fiscal Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller), immediately require tasked units to review costs incurred for mission assignments 4482DR-CA-DOD-01, 4482DR-CA-DOD-02, and 4488DR-NJ-DOD-04 as of July 31, 2020, for completeness and accuracy, and submit reimbursement requests for those costs with required documentation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0002.c - Closed

Rec. 2.c: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy for Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller), immediately require tasked units to review costs incurred for mission assignment 4480DR-NY-DOD-10 as of July 31, 2020, for completeness and accuracy, and submit reimbursement requests for those costs with required documentation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0002.d - Closed

Rec. 2.d: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the United States Marine Corps immediately require tasked units to review costs incurred for 4482DR-CA-DOD-01, 4482DR-CA-DOD-02, and 4488DR-NJ-DOD-04 as of July 31, 2020, for completeness and accuracy, and submit reimbursement requests for those costs with required documentation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0002.e - Closed

Rec. 2.e: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the National Guard Bureau immediately require tasked units to review costs incurred for mission assignments 4480DR-NY-DOD-05, 4481DR-WA-DOD-05, 4482DR-CA-DOD-07, and 4491DR-MD-DOD-01 as of July 31, 2020, for completeness and accuracy, as well as any additional costs incurred and identified after July 31, 2020, and submit reimbursement requests for those costs with required documentation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in accordance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.a1 - Closed

Rec. 3.a.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Army Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), in coordination with the Financial Management Augmentation Team, develop and provide to tasked units, an Army-specific desk manual for mission assignments that includes, at a minimum, step-by-step procedures for initial set-up, real-time cost input, cost tracking, cost reporting, and submitting partial and final billings to ensure compliance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.a2 - Closed

Rec. 3.a.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Army Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) train tasked-unit personnel on how to navigate the Army-specific desk manual and apply the procedures appropriately.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.b1 - Closed

Rec. 3.b.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Assistant Director of the Office of Budget Fiscal Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller), in coordination with the Financial Management Augmentation Team, develop and provide to tasked units, a Navy-specific desk manual for mission assignments that includes, at a minimum, step-by-step procedures for initial set-up, real-time cost input, cost tracking, cost reporting, and submitting partial and final billings to ensure compliance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.b2 - Closed

Rec. 3.b.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Assistant Director of the Office of Budget Fiscal Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) train tasked-unit personnel on how to navigate the Navy-specific desk manual and apply the procedures appropriately.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.d1 - Closed

Rec. 3.d.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the United States Marine Corps, in coordination with the Financial Management Augmentation Team, develop and provide to tasked units, a Marine Corps-specific desk manual for mission assignments that includes, at a minimum, step-by-step procedures for initial set-up, real-time cost input, cost tracking, cost reporting, and submitting partial and final billings to ensure compliance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.d2 - Closed

Rec. 3.d.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the United States Marine Corps train tasked-unit personnel on how to navigate the Marine Corps-specific desk manual and apply the procedures appropriately.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.e1 - Open

Rec. 3.e.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the National Guard Bureau, in coordination with the Financial Management Augmentation Team, develop and provide to tasked units a National Guard-specific desk manual for mission assignments that includes, at a minimum, step-by-step procedures for initial set-up, real-time cost input, cost tracking, cost reporting, and submitting partial and final billing to ensure compliance with DoD policy.

D-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.e2 - Open

Rec. 3.e.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Comptroller of the National Guard Bureau train tasked-unit personnel on how to navigate the National Guard-specific desk manuals and apply the procedures appropriately.

DODIG-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.c1 - Closed

Rec. 3.c.1: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy for Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller), in coordination with the Financial Management Augmentation Team, develop and provide to tasked units, an Air Force-specific desk manual for mission assignments that includes, at a minimum, step-by-step procedures for initial set-up, real-time cost input, cost tracking, cost reporting, and submitting partial and final billings to ensure compliance with DoD policy.

DODIG-2021-0091-D000AU-0001-0003.c2 - Closed

Rec. 3.c.2: The DoD OIG recommended that the Deputy for Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) train taskeDODIG-unit personnel on how to navigate the Air Force-specific desk manual and apply the procedures appropriately.

National Science Foundation OIG

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of Central Florida

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/27/2021

Finding 1, Rec. 1 - Closed

Direct UCF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $134 in questioned fringe benefit costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding 1, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct UCF to notify its Federal sponsors that its personnel have not yet certified their effort for the Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Summer 2020, and Fall 2020 semesters.

Finding 1, Rec. 3 - Closed

Direct UCF to require its employees to certify their effort for the Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Summer 2020, and Fall 2020 semesters and then process any cost transfers needed to ensure that UCF charged NSF for salary costs that were consistent with the effort certified.

Finding 1, Rec. 4 - Closed

Direct UCF to review all salary earned during June 2020 to verify that its accounting system appropriately applied fringe benefits at the correct rate and, if the accounting system did not apply fringe benefits at the correct rate, process any adjustments necessary.

Finding 2, Rec. 1 - Closed

Direct UCF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $160 of questioned participant support costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding 2, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct UCF to establish policies and procedures to ensure that it obtains and documents proper approval for insurance costs before charging the costs to NSF awards.

Finding 2, Rec. 3 - Closed

Direct UCF to establish policies and procedures to ensure that it does not apply fringe benefit rates to participant support costs that it processes through its payroll subledger.

National Science Foundation OIG

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – California Institute of Technology

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/26/2021

Finding 1, Rec. 1 - Closed

Resolve the $16,351 in questioned salary expenses for which Caltech has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct Caltech to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.

Finding 1, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct Caltech to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $418 of questioned salary expenses for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding 1, Rec. 3 - Closed

Direct Caltech to strengthen its policies and procedures by retroactively establishing expiration dates on its use of the Other Paid Leave Pool on Federal awards and ensuring that these expiration dates align with the expiration dates and criteria specific to Flexibility 6 of Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-20-17.

Finding 2, Rec. 1 - Closed

Resolve the $31,856 in questioned subaward expenses for which Caltech has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct Caltech to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.

Finding 2, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct Caltech to strengthen its internal control processes and procedures surrounding the transfer of significant portions of NSF-funded research to other organizations. Updated processes could include: a. Establishing procedures to verify whether the scope of work for a proposed subcontract on an NSF award is programmatic in nature before issuing the subcontract. If the scope of work is programmatic in nature, Caltech should obtain the NSF Grants Officer’s approval before issuing the subcontract. Caltech could obtain this approval either as part of the initial NSF grant proposal/budget or through a formal request to transfer the research or effort, submitted through NSF’s FastLane system. b. Requiring periodic training for Caltech personnel that are permitted to subaward, issue, or subcontract out research under NSF awards, to ensure that they request the appropriate approvals. c. Establishing procedures to confirm that Caltech personnel perform pass-through entity risk assessments to identify the appropriate monitoring procedures when Caltech awards NSF research to a pass-through entity. d. Establishing periodic monitoring procedures to ensure that Caltech appropriately assesses indirect costs on the first $25,000 invoiced by each subawardee.

Finding 3, Rec. 1 - Closed

Direct Caltech to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $1,515 of questioned indirect costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding 3, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct Caltech to strengthen its monitoring procedures and internal control processes for applying indirect costs to Federal awards. Updated procedures could include: a. Requiring that personnel review rental expenses charged to NSF awards to assess whether the expenses included indirect costs. Specifically, Caltech should ensure the general ledger account codes it establishes to account for equipment rental charges do not apply indirect costs. b. Requiring that personnel review capitalized expenses charged to an NSF award to ensure that the capitalized amount includes all applicable costs.

Finding 3, Rec. 3 - Closed

Direct Caltech to quantify the total indirect costs inappropriately applied to NSF awards as a result of its rental equipment account inappropriately applying indirect costs and to reimburse NSF for the appropriate amount.

Finding 4, Rec. 1 - Closed

Direct Caltech to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $581 of questioned salary and fringe costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.

Finding 4, Rec. 2 - Closed

Direct Caltech to strengthen its administrative and management controls and processes surrounding the charging of salary to Intergovernmental Personnel Act awards. Updated processes could include requiring departmental payroll personnel to perform additional procedures to ensure that Caltech appropriately established initial salary payments, including verifying that all payments are within the Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment dates.

Finding 5, Rec. 1 - Closed

Direct Caltech to update its current award set-up practices to require that, when setting up accounts established for NSF awards, personnel ensure that the accounts apply indirect costs using either the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the NSF grant award or the rates identified in the NSF award letters, as appropriate.

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State (State and Local Reports)

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Reports

Special Report: The Missile Defense Agency’s Access to Information Technology and Communications During the Coronavirus Disease–2019 Pandemic

Special Report: The Defense Logistics Agency’s Access to Information Technology and Communications During the Coronavirus Disease–2019 Pandemic

Capstone Report: Observations on the OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of Michigan

Audit of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Quality Assurance Over Contracts for the Conversion of Facilities to Alternative Care Sites in Response to the Coronavirus Disease–2019 Pandemic

Limited Review of HUD’s Office of Chief Procurement Officer Pandemic-Related Procurement Accommodations and Challenges

COVID-19 Leave Administration

Audit of the Reimbursement for Department of Defense Mission Assignments for Coronavirus Disease–2019 Pandemic Response in the U.S. Northern Command Area of Responsibility

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of Central Florida

Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – California Institute of Technology

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