Reports

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas. The DOI will award most of its CARES Act funding through contracts and financial assistance agreements (such as grants and cooperative agreements). Our past work demonstrates that these awards are a vulnerable area for the DOI. Moreover, awards made as part of emergency response are riskier...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas. This report presents the DOI’s progress as of April 28, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically: • Total expenditures are $168,719,791 and total obligations are $387,887,389. • A total of 491 grants and contracts have been awarded, with total value of $390,845,278. •...

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection to evaluate novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) screening processes at 237 VA facilities (medical centers, community-based outpatient clinics, and community living centers) and to collect data on pandemic preparations. Screening processes at 71 percent of visited medical centers were adequate, while 28 percent had opportunities for improvement. The vast majority of community-based outpatient clinics had screening procedures in place. Although VA announced a no visitors policy for community living centers on March 10, 2020, OIG...