GAO said it found instances where senior officials bypassed competitive hiring processes by appointing individuals without due regard to qualifications. Image: photoeu/Shutterstock.com
The GAO has cited mismanagement of assets, failure to follow policies and lack of oversight as main contributors to waste by federal agencies found in reviews by its own auditors and those of agency inspectors general.
A white paper is part of a series GAO has been publishing on fraud, waste and abuse, “all of which are significant issues for the federal government,” and the distinctions between them. “Fraud involves obtaining something of value through willful misrepresentation as determined through the judicial or other adjudicative system. In contrast, waste and abuse do not necessarily involve violations of law. However, the discovery of waste during program audits, for instance, could indicate noncompliance with regulations or the potential for fraud,” it says.
Regarding failure to follow policies, the document focuses on the potential for officials to disregard hiring laws and rules, which “can result in the hiring of ineligible employees. We identified instances where senior officials bypassed competitive hiring processes by appointing individuals, including a relative, to federal positions without proper regard for their qualifications.” In one case, an agency made salary payments to ineligible employees totaling nearly $440,000 before the employees were removed, it said.
Regarding management of assets, it says for example that “inventory system shortcomings can result in problems with tracking the purchase and use of goods and services, making it difficult to control costs and leading to waste. Poor or nonexistent tracking hinders an agency’s ability to know what it has already purchased.”
Regarding oversight, it says cites an IG finding of waste resulting from a lack of oversight to ensure that safety contract requirements for buildings were followed. “Without establishing clear program goals, along with performance measures to ensure goals are being met, management increases chances of wasted resources. Lack of monitoring and oversight procedures, or failure to conduct quality control, could lead to inadequate planning and execution that can decrease a program’s ability to minimize waste,” it says.
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