Department of Commerce OIG

Over recent decades, the United States has seen a decline in its leadership in semiconductor chip manufacturing and research. To counter this and strengthen domestic semiconductor production and innovation, Congress passed the CHIPS Act of 2022. The CHIPS Act provides $50 billion to the Department...

For our evaluation of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS's) detection of and response to cyber incidents, our objective was to assess the adequacy of actions taken by BIS when detecting and responding to cyber incidents in accordance with federal and departmental requirements. We found that...

This report highlights our work initiated and completed from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. During this period, we issued 5 investigative reports and 12 audit and evaluation reports.

Our audit found that loan costs claimed by the RLF operators were not allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Specifically, we found that the four operators awarded 11 of the 19 loans (58 percent), totaling $4,020,050, to ineligible borrowers that did not meet the eligibility criteria in the operators...

Our audit objective was to determine whether USPTO had an effective governance structure and processes in place to manage its AI tools. To meet our objective, we tested two of the six AI tools USPTO had in use when we began our audit. Overall, we found that USPTO has begun developing its AI...

Our evaluation’s objective was to assess NTIA’s implementation of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund program. We determined the steps NTIA took to award and disburse program funds, the challenges NTIA faced while implementing the program, and the status of awards and disbursements. We...

We audited the Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER’s) use of Federal Emergency and Pandemic Relief Financial Assistance Funds. Our audit objective was to determine whether federal funds received by PRDNER to support its fisheries in recovering from the impacts of...

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for administering $48.2 billion provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for four different broadband programs, namely the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the Middle Mile...