Agency Oversight

  • The Office of Personnel Management has decided that final quality reviews for background investigations will be conducted by government employees -- not contractors. A Feb. 6 statement from OPM Director Katherine Archuleta provided to Federal News Radio said starting Feb. 24 the quality-review process for background checks will be "fully federalized," and that "only federal employees will be conducting the final quality review before the investigative product is sent to the agency for review and adjudication."

    February 06, 2014
  • Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) report on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure in the federal government examined more than 40 inspector general audits and revealed gaping holes in the security of agencies' systems.

    February 06, 2014
  • The goal is to more accurately evaluate the security of the government's computer networks and systems. These efforts could bring more consistency to the cyber auditing process and engender more confidence in its results.

    February 06, 2014
  • The inconsistent way inspectors general review the security of federal networks and computers is causing uncertainty around what is working and what isn't in the federal government. A recent State Department IG management alert is a prime example of this growing disconnect.

    February 05, 2014
  • The Army's audit arm finds huge accountability holes in a years-long program that recruited 130,000 soldiers. The program most likely violated federal law from the get-go, officials say.

    February 05, 2014
  • Air Force's new civilian leader returns from tour of the service's nuclear sites with a dim assessment of the workforce's leader development and training culture. In 60 days, the service will recommend an action plan to the Pentagon.

    January 30, 2014
  • The Justice Department has accused the company that performed background investigations of both National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis of defrauding the government, making false statements and breach of contract. DoJ's civil complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alabama alleges the company, which is the government's largest contractor for background-investigation services, submitted at least 665,000 background investigations to the Office of Personnel Management that hadn't been properly reviewed.

    January 23, 2014
  • The U.S. Postal Service's financial woes are forcing the agency to put off vital maintenance and repair work of facilities across the country, according to a recent inspector general report. Between 2009 and 2012, the Postal Service's budget for capital improvements and facility repairs fell by $382 million, and some 19,000 planned repairs were left uncompleted.

    January 21, 2014
  • House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) says agency inspectors general are increasingly facing obstacles in their efforts to uncover waste and misconduct. The top watchdogs at both the Justice Department and the Peace Corps told lawmakers they've faced resistance from their agencies at times in turning over records in recent years. Lawmakers also expressed concern about the impact of across-the-board budget cuts on the operations agency IG operations.

    January 15, 2014
  • OMB reported agencies avoided spending $3 billion on travel and conferences in 2013 as compared to 2010. Senate lawmakers are concerned how to ensure agencies don't slide back into old habits of lavish spending on conferences.

    January 15, 2014
  • The House gave a boost to the Office of Personnel Management inspector general's office Tuesday, voting to provide the agency's auditors with access to new funding to conduct investigations. In a unanimous vote, the House approved the bipartisan OPM IG Act, introduced by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass). The Senate approved a nearly identical measure, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), in October.

    January 14, 2014
  • Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, released a majority staff report that questioned the planning and future efficacy of the Homeland Security Department consolidating its headquarters at the St. Elizabeths campus in D.C.

    January 14, 2014
  • The Government Accountability Office dinged OMB yet again for having updated information in the IT Dashboard only in nine of the last 24 months. OMB said the information is pre-decisional and therefore can't be made public.

    January 14, 2014
  • In his nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday, John Roth, currently the director of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations, said he aimed to turn around employee morale in the IG's office, which has been rocked by allegations of misconduct by the former acting head of the office. Roth, whose nomination has garnered near-universal support from both Republican and Democratic members of the committee.

    January 08, 2014