The report follows by two years another IG report critical of the TTS, which found that the unit had “misled” customer agencies regarding the security features of login.gov. Image: Daniel J. Macy/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GSA’s Technology Transformation Service “deviated from merit system principles in its hiring and workforce management practices, resulting in noncompliance with federal hiring requirements and raising serious concerns about fairness and accountability,” an inspector general report has said.
In a report looking back three years, the IG said that the unit “misused” direct-hire authority—meant to speed up the process by allowing first-come, first-served hiring of those deemed qualified—by “continuing to assess the applicants to find the highest-qualified candidates instead of quickly hiring any candidate who met the position qualifications.”
One result was a “reduced consideration of veterans’ preference, resulting in TTS hiring fewer veterans in comparison to the rest of GSA”; as of 2024, veterans made up only 9 percent of TTS’s workforce, compared to 26 percent across all of GSA as of 2023. “When asked about the disparity, the then-Acting Director of TTS did not express concern about the low veteran representation in TTS and stated that ‘veterans may not have the experience needed to perform the job’ at TTS,” the report said.
In contrast, for hiring and promotion decisions that were supposed to be competitive, “We found that TTS hiring managers preselected and backfilled candidates for merit promotions, bypassing competitive assessment processes intended to ensure that employment decisions are based on qualifications and performance.”
That included “selecting candidates prior to public notice,” limiting the number of applicants to be considered; and “multiple job announcements that were only open for 1 day.”
The report also questioned the use of recruitment and retention incentive payments of up to 25 percent of salary for certain positions on grounds of difficulty in filling those positions, even though the agency received “thousands of applications” for them. It also said supporting documents did not justify the paying of higher salaries to some employees on grounds that they had “superior qualifications.”
In response to recommendations directed toward those finding, management took issue with some of the audit’s methodology and said that GSA “under the Trump administration has continued to strengthen the way the agency conducts performance workforce management” that “will be reflected in future hiring efforts.” The IG in turn defended its methods, said that the agency’s response leaves the TTS still “at risk of violating hiring requirements in the future,” and reiterated its recommendations.
The report follows by two years another IG report critical of the TTS, which found that the unit had “misled” customer agencies regarding the security features of login.gov, which it markets as a central portal for accessing government services, and “knowingly” billed them as if the site met standards that it did not meet.
In response to that report and later hearings, bills were offered in the House and Senate in the prior Congress to require more detailed information on—in the words of sponsors—”what projects is TTS working on, how much do they cost, how much revenue do they bring in, and are agencies getting what they paid for when working with TTS.” Comparable bills have not yet been introduced in the current Congress.
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