Federal Reports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) conducts individualized assessments of some land port of entry (LPOE) operations to evaluate workforce staffing, technology, and infrastructure improvements. While these assessments may have allowed OFO to optimize some LPOE operations, OFO does not integrate them or the data collected to enable a more comprehensive assessment across all LPOE operations.

The Office of Inspector General determined that the Tennessee Valley Authority’s portfolio management process is not operating as intended. Specifically, we found: • Some types of projects did not follow the portfolio management process as required by Tennessee Valley Authority-Standard Programs and Processes 19.003. In addition, TVA does not have a reverse capital flex list, as described in the Portfolio Management Guide. • Economic analyses were not performed for 9 of 17 projects reviewed with a forecasted cost greater than $10 million, although Tennessee Valley Authority’s Portfolio Management Guide states economic analyses are required for all projects equal to or greater than $10 million. • Economic analyses for two Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors approved projects had negative net present values, which indicates the projects might not add value to TVA. These analyses, as well as additional costs for one of the projects, were not provided to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.• Two purchase orders were issued prior to spend approval for one project, indicating a control gap.

The OIG examined whether VA’s regional Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) were effectively overseeing the supply chain management conducted by their medical facilities. Supply chain management is critical to preventing waste and ensuring unexpired medical products and equipment are available in good condition for patient care when and where they are needed. An audit team assessed data from 140 annual quality control reviews conducted in FY 2023 by the VISNs, in which medical facilities are evaluated on over 100 questions related to VHA requirements. The OIG team also reviewed the resulting corrective action reports. Cumulatively, the VISN supply chiefs’ assessments found that VHA facilities did not comply with supply chain management policy in about 18.5 percent of required areas. The OIG team conducted site visits to six medical facilities from different VISNs to delve further into their quality control reviews. Three of the facilities did not correct 127 of the 130 outstanding deficiencies for all six visited facilities, and the team discovered over 150 expired items that included catheters, syringes, blood collection tubes, and dental implants. The OIG team also learned of instances of delayed or canceled surgeries because supplies were unavailable. Challenges to medical facilities’ complying with supply management requirements included reports of staffing vacancies, leadership turnover, insufficient VISN support, and inadequate storage space. VISN supply chiefs also did not report all noncompliant practices, and Procurement and Logistics Office monitoring was inadequate to identify unimplemented corrective actions or inaccurate assessments. VA concurred with the OIG’s six recommendations to strengthen VISN oversight of facility supply chain management.

Management Advisory on the FTC’s Non-Federal Sourced Travel

We audited WSFR grants awarded by FWS to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure compliance and cost allowability.

This report summarizes the results of Sikich’s independent evaluation and contains nine new recommendations that will assist the agency in improving the effectiveness of its information security and its privacy programs and practices. NCUA management concurred with and hasidentified corrective actions to address the recommendations.