Reports

We are conducting the subject audit at the request of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The objective of this audit is to determine the actions taken by the DoD to configure remote access software used to facilitate telework during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect DoD networks and systems from potential malicious activity. We will also determine the extent to which the DoD implemented security controls to protect remote connections to its networks. We may revise the objective as the audit proceeds, and we will consider suggestions from management for additional or revised objectives.

The objective of this audit is to determine whether DoD’s deployment of collaboration tools used to facilitate telework during the coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exposed DoD networks and systems to potential malicious activity, and the extent to which the DoD implemented security controls to protect the collaboration tools used on its networks. We will perform this audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. We may revise the objective as the audit proceeds, and we will consider suggestions from DoD management for additional or revised objectives.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many of ETA’s job training programs to cease operation. This interrupted participants’ job training, hence potentially preventing them from completing their training and getting a job in the areas they were trained. This audit will assess the impact of the pandemic on ETA’s job training programs by reviewing which and how many job training programs were interrupted and how ETA was able to resume training and ensure participants completed training programs they had started prior to the pandemic.
 

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) works to prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthful workplaces for US miners. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 requires MSHA to  inspect each underground mine in its entirety four times a year and each surface mine in its entirety two times a year. These are called regular mandatory health and safety inspections. In 2021, MSHA’s data showed approximately 12,500 mines requiring an inspection while MSHA's inspection data showed it conducted around 18,500 inspections per year. This project will audit how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted MSHA's ability to complete mandatory safety and health inspections.
 

DOL and states found themselves unprepared for the overwhelming circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and struggled to implement CARES Act UI Programs and Continue Assistance Act which added the Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program. MEUC is a new temporary, federal program that provides an extra unemployment income to self-employed individuals. As unprecedented levels of unemployment resulted in millions of jobless Americans applying for unemployment benefits during the pandemic this also led to states reporting an inability to process claims, complete required reporting, or perform required overpayment detection procedures due to an inability to hire sufficient levels of staffing. The objective of this audit is to determine how states implemented the MEUC program.

The objectives of this audit are to: 1) obtain, review, and assess agency plans to expend these funds, 2) determine the current status of the RRB IT initiatives to expend all or part of the appropriation, 3) evaluate if the project progress is in accordance with the RRB’s project plan timeline, and reasons for delay, if any, 4) evaluate if the RRB’s goals and timeline are reasonable and attainable to achieve the intended purpose as stated in agency plans, and 5) evaluate the outcomes of the project relative to the anticipated improvements.

The OIG is conducting an audit of the Office on Violence Against Women’s Grant Administration due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The preliminary objectives are to assess: (1) the grant administration and monitoring during the pandemic and (2) the guidance and assistance provided to grant recipients for addressing any increased risks to effective program implementation and to violence against women.