Budgetary restrictions at the IG’s office in the Commerce Department prevented that office from auditing smaller bureaus and offices that in 2013 had a combined budget of $2.4 billion, GAO has said.
A report said that over 2011 to 2013, the office’s budget fell from about $47 million to $41 million, with an accompanying drop in staff from 171 to 137.
“During this period of constrained resources, the Commerce OIG conducted mandatory audits that covered all bureaus and offices and provided performance audit coverage of Commerce’s largest bureaus and offices. It also audited areas identified by the OIG as management challenges,” the report said, recommending that the IG audit such functions on a rotating basis.
While the Commerce OIG’s return on each budget dollar was within the range of the lowest and highest returns for all other OIGs for fiscal years 2011 through 2013, its average return of $4.18 over the period was less than the average return of about $22.64 for the other cabinet-level OIGs, the report added.
It also said that while the office’s hotline practices were generally consistent with standards in the IG community, there were “numerous instances where the OIG did not follow one or more of its own hotline policies and procedures” and there was a “lack of ongoing monitoring of its internal control activities.”
