Federal Reports

We performed an audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Wesco Distribution, Inc., (Wesco) for operations materials and industrial equipment as part of TVA’s integrated supply program under master Contract No. 13421. Under the contract, TVA pays Wesco the established rates in the contract’s pricing schedules for inventory items that have a unique item number assigned. For items that were not established in the contract’s pricing lists or items that do not have a unique item number, TVA pays Wesco the cost of the item plus applicable markups established in the contract. Our audit objective was to determine if the costs billed to TVA under Contract No. 13421 were in accordance with the contract terms. Our audit scope included approximately $190.2 million in costs paid by TVA from January 1, 2021, through September 30, 2023. In summary, we determined Wesco overbilled TVA $149,246, including (1) $88,556 in unsupported costs, (2) a net $37,870 in costs for items whose rates billed exceeded the contract rates, and (3) $22,820 in costs for items that did not have a unique item number and whose rates billed exceeded the cost of the items plus applicable markups established in the contract. In addition, we determined several items should have been added to the contracts’ pricing lists based on how frequently they were purchased. Specifically, we identified 964 transactions with unique item numbers not on a contract pricing list, totaling $17,796,594, that were purchased four or more times in a year.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) management ofexcess and obsolete paper and secure documents. Our objective was to determine if management uses effective processes toaccount for, store, and destroy secure intelligent documents and products. The audit focused on U.S. passport production.

During the week of May 13, 2024, we performed audits at the Kansas City Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) and three delivery units serviced by the P&DC in the Kansas City, MO, area. The delivery units included the Hickman Mills Station, Kansas City, MO; the Robert L. Roberts Station, Kansas City, KS; and the Shawnee Mission Post Office, Mission, KS.We issued individual reports for the three delivery units and the P&DC. We issued another report summarizing the results of our audits at all three delivery units with specific recommendations for management to address.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration ensured the representative payee information in its Electronic Representative Payee System was accurate.

The Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program is VA’s largest program for transitional housing. It awards grants to community partners that provide veterans experiencing homelessness with temporary housing and supportive services, such as mental health and substance use disorder treatment and assistance in obtaining permanent housing. With a budget of over $275 million, the GPD program served almost 24,000 veterans in fiscal year 2022. Given the importance of the GPD program and VA’s reliance on data from the program’s Homeless Operations, Management, and Evaluation System (HOMES), the OIG conducted this review to determine whether VHA has reliable data to monitor grantee performance, veteran outcomes, and progress in preventing the recurrence of veteran homelessness.The review team estimated that HOMES outcome data were unreliable for about 888 (21 percent) of the 4,151 veterans recorded as having exited the program for permanent housing. In these cases, HOMES data did not match VA medical records, did not match the grantee’s files, or lacked supporting documentation. Additionally, HOMES data did not accurately capture all negative exits—case outcomes where veterans are discharged from the GPD program under negative circumstances. Reasons for the inaccuracies included GPD liaisons not verifying grantee-reported information, liaisons not following the HOMES data definitions guide when they recorded veterans’ housing arrangements, and medical facilities not validating data that the liaisons entered.Although VHA took steps to improve data reliability, additional controls would improve leaders’ ability to make informed decisions on the services unhoused veterans need and allow VA to hold grantees accountable for improving their services for veterans.The OIG recommended policies and procedures for GPD liaisons to obtain reliable discharge information from grantees, controls to ensure HOMES data are consistent with grantee files and VA medical records, and quality reviews to check for accuracy.

The United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) has begun to expend Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds for the procurement, construction, and improvements projects identified in its fiscal year 2022 IIJA Spend Plan. At the time of our review, Coast Guard had only spent approximately 1 percent ($5.76 million) and committed and obligated an additional 10.9 percent ($46.8 million) of the $429 million in IIJA funds, limiting our ability to assess whether IIJA funding was used in accordance with Federal requirements. This occurred because Coast Guard did not implement effective planning for its IIJA efforts. For example, it did not complete planning documentation before including projects on its unfunded priorities list; did not promptly finalize its program management plan for IIJA projects; and did not conduct the necessary staffing assessment to execute IIJA projects in a timely manner.