The bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have asked the GAO to review FEMA’s personnel practices, particularly regarding misconduct by employees.
The letter requesting the audit noted that FEMA’s workforce has more than doubled in the last decade to more than 15,000, saying “it is essential that effective systems and controls are in place to address any instances of employee misconduct.”
GAO was asked to review FEMA’s policies for addressing misconduct; assess data on such cases and their outcomes; examine its actions to manage and oversee the investigations and adjudications processes; examine management training related to addressing misconduct; and examine information sharing within the agency regarding serious cases, including between the IG or investigating officials and the agency’s HR, general counsel and other offices.
The letter cited previous GAO work in the same areas on agencies including TSA and CBP that it said led to improvements.
