Federal Reports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) inconsistent processes for
identifying special interest aliens (SIAs) created disparities in alien
screening. In July 2023, CBP’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) San Diego
Field Office and the U.S. Border Patrol (Border Patrol) Yuma and El Centro
sectors had a process to identify and provide additional screening of SIAs,
yet San Diego sector did not. This inconsistency occurred because CBP did
not have an agency-wide policy stating whether to identify aliens from
certain countries as SIAs. As a result, aliens from countries with links to
terrorism entered at least one CBP region that did not provide additional
screening.

The Office of Inspector General is issuing this inspection report to assess the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) initial response to Hurricane Milton, including staffing, loan application volume, response time to applicant queries, and timeliness of disaster loan approvals.

We found that in SBA’s initial disaster assistance response to Hurricane Milton, the agency promptly established a field presence, adequately staffed recovery centers, and responded timely to applicant queries.

Although SBA processed loan applications in 17 days on average, the agency was unable to disburse all but one of those loans during a 68-day funding lapse. As a result, the overall processing time from application receipt to disbursement of funds was 73 days on average for applications submitted before or during the funding lapse and 19 days on average for applications submitted after supplemental appropriations were approved.

We recommended SBA review current outreach strategies, including staffing assignments, and make appropriate changes to optimize resources, thereby ensuring maximum awareness of available assistance to disaster survivors. We also recommended the agency implement processes to gather feedback from applicants that would assist in monitoring the effectiveness of its outreach methods.

SBA management partially agreed with Recommendation 1 and agreed with Recommendation 2. Management’s response and planned action satisfy the intent of both recommendations.

We found that a former Research Archeologist at a non-profit organization embezzled over $35,000 of BOR funds for personal expenses.

The U.S. Postal Service’s Delivering for America 10-year plan includes initiatives to support small and medium businesses and grow parcel revenue. The Merchant Rate Card program supports this initiative, offering discounted rates to businesses (merchants) through agreements between the Postal Service and third-party platforms used by the merchant. The Postal Service had agreements that accounted for over a billion in revenue through the Merchant Rate Card program in fiscal year 2024. 

We rated the Department of Homeland Security’s information security program for fiscal year 2024 as “effective,” according to this year’s reporting instructions. We based this rating on our evaluation of the Department’s compliance with requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 for unclassified and national security systems. DHS received a maturity rating of “Level 5 – Optimized” in the Identify and Respond functions and received a maturity rating of “Level 4 – Managed and Measurable” in the Protect, Detect, and Recover functions based on this year’s reporting guidance

To comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, VA must make the information and communication technology it uses accessible to veterans with disabilities and anyone else seeking VA information. The OIG conducted this audit to follow up on a 2024 report on areas where VA’s implementation and monitoring of Section 508 requirements could be improved and to evaluate whether the procurement process for information and communication technology meets Section 508 standards.

The OIG team sampled 30 critical information technology and communications systems for review. The team did not independently verify compliance with Section 508 standards and relied on self-reporting by VA to assess progress and deficiencies. Of the 30 systems, VA’s Office of 508 Compliance classified only four as compliant. The OIG concluded that VA officials did not ensure the sampled information technology systems they procured would meet the accessibility standards required by law. The team also reviewed contract documentation for the 30 systems and found contracting officers and the designated officials for VA program offices did market research on vendors that could meet business requirements, but they took no additional action to verify that sampled systems were accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The OIG made four recommendations, including that the assistant secretary for information and technology ensure staff receive training and updated guidance on their roles and responsibilities. VA should also ensure the Office of 508 Compliance receives complete market research showing the technology VA seeks to procure is the most compliant under Section 508. The OIG also recommended the deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics develop policies for ensuring information and communications technology procurements comply with Section 508.