GAO has reported that the government is not fully leveraging its aggregate buying power, and that strategic sourcing, a process that moves a company away from numerous individual procurements to a broader aggregate approach, allowed companies to achieve savings of 10 to 20 percent. A similar savings … Read more about GAO: Strategic Sourcing: Improved and Expanded Use Could Save Billions in Annual Procurement Costs
DOL OIG: Management of H-2B Program Needs to be Strengthened to Ensure Adequate Protections for U.S. Workers
The H-2B non-immigrant program permitted employers to hire foreign workers to enter the U.S. to perform temporary non-agricultural services or labor on a one-time, seasonal, peakload, or intermittent basis. Employers submitted H-2B applications to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign … Read more about DOL OIG: Management of H-2B Program Needs to be Strengthened to Ensure Adequate Protections for U.S. Workers
USDA OIG: Analysis of FNS’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Fraud Prevention and Detection Efforts
For this audit, OIG began analyzing SNAP- related databases at Federal and State levels to identify anomalies that may result in ineligible individuals receiving SNAP benefits. OIG found that of the more than 13.9 million average monthly recipients in the 10 States we reviewed, there were … Read more about USDA OIG: Analysis of FNS’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Fraud Prevention and Detection Efforts
VA OIG: Administrative Investigation of the FY 2011 Human Resources Conferences in Orlando, Florida
VA OIG opened an administrative investigation upon receiving allegations of wasteful expenditures related to HR conferences held in Orlando, FL, in July and August 2011. While VA reported lower estimates of conference costs to Congress, we reconstructed the costs of the two conference events to be … Read more about VA OIG: Administrative Investigation of the FY 2011 Human Resources Conferences in Orlando, Florida
GAO: Information on Efforts and Potential Options to Save Costs
Correctional services—which includes salaries and benefits for correctional officers—is the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) largest operational cost, and BOP has undertaken a number of initiatives to reduce costs. Specifically, on the basis of GAO's analysis of BOP's fiscal … Read more about GAO: Information on Efforts and Potential Options to Save Costs
EPA OIG: Environmental Job Training Program Implemented Well, But Focus Needed on Possible Duplication With Other EPA Programs
EPA did not have internal controls to identify and prevent duplication with other EPA job training programs. Consequently, there is some risk of duplication in EPA awards for job training programs. Other EPA programs that could possibly … Read more about EPA OIG: Environmental Job Training Program Implemented Well, But Focus Needed on Possible Duplication With Other EPA Programs
USDA OIG: Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments—Fiscal Year 2011 High-Dollar Report Review
USDA’s high-dollar reporting is not yet fully advancing transparency and agency accountability for identifying and eliminating the highest payment errors as intended. In this second year of reporting, USDA increased its reporting of high-dollar overpayments by more than 500 percent—from 19 in the … Read more about USDA OIG: Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments—Fiscal Year 2011 High-Dollar Report Review
GAO: Justice and Treasury Should Determine Costs and Benefits of Potential Consolidation
Since 2003, the Departments of Justice (Justice) and the Treasury (Treasury) have taken some steps to explore coordinating forfeiture program efforts, including sharing a website for posting notifications and pursuing a contract for seizure efforts abroad. However, limited progress has … Read more about GAO: Justice and Treasury Should Determine Costs and Benefits of Potential Consolidation