Hearing To Review Recent Investigations And Audits Conducted By The Usda Inspector General

Hearing to review recent investigations and audits conducted by the USDA inspector general: hearing before the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, and Credit of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, June 2, 2011.

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" The USDA OIG plays a critical role in addressing issues of economy, efficiency, and potential fraud involving scarce taxpayer dollars allocated to USDA. GAO was asked to review a number of issues related to the OIG's operations in comparison to other cabinet-level OIGs. The objectives of this report were to provide information on the USDA OIG's (1) budget and staffing levels, (2) reported accomplishments, (3) reported oversight coverage, (4) reported quality of work, and (5) oversight of USDA's reported causes of estimated improper payments. To address these objectives, GAO obtained information over the 3-year period covering fiscal years 2009 through 2011 on the OIG's budget and staff levels and the reported monetary and nonmonetary accomplishments from this work. GAO obtained similar information reported by the OIGs in all cabinet-level departments. In addition, GAO summarized information on the USDA OIG's oversight coverage reported by audits and investigations, and the quality of the OIG's work as reported by peer reviews performed by other OIGs. Also, GAO obtained information on the OIG's audit of USDA's reporting on improper payments. "

GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Inspector General's (OIG) compliance with professional standards in conducting audits and investigations. GAO found that, of the 23 audit and investigation standards it reviewed, OIG satisfactorily complied with 18. Although OIG complied with certain aspects of the other 5 standards, GAO found that: (1) some OIG supervisors did not document their reviews of subordinates' work and their reviews of evidence to support report statements; (2) auditors did not have evidence to support some report statements; (3) some audit reports were not clear, concise, and convincing; (4) OIG investigators did not prepare plans for most of the investigations reviewed; and (5) OIG staff could not always locate case files in records storage centers. GAO believes that, in addition to improvements needed to bring OIG into satisfactory compliance with certain standards, OIG needs to: (1) develop a written strategic plan for each of the program areas it audits; and (2) consider revising training plans for investigators.