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Office of the Inspector General: 
United States Government Accountability Office: GAO/OIG: 

December 2011: 

Semiannual Report: 

April 1 2011 - September 30 2011:  

Serving the Congress and the Nation: 

OIG-12-1: 

Office of the Inspector General: 
United States Government Accountability Office: 

Memorandum: 

Date: December 15, 2011: 

To: Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro: 

From: [Signed by] Inspector General Frances Garcia: 

Subject: Semiannual Report-—April 1, 2011, through September 30, 2011: 

In accordance with Section 5 of the Government Accountability Office 
Act of 2008[Footnote 1] (GAO Act), I am pleased to present my 
semiannual report for the 6-month period ending September 30, 2011, 
for your comments and its transmission to the Congress.  

We've made significant progress during this reporting period in our 
efforts to complete our transition to a statutory Office of Inspector 
General (OIG). For example, we (1) issued GAO Order 0130.1.23, Office 
of the Inspector General, which incorporates our new statutory 
authorities in describing the organization, mission, authorities, and 
responsibilities of our office; (2) updated our policies and 
procedures manual for audits and nonaudit services; and (3) 
standardized our engagement processes, procedures, and documentation 
requirements to help ensure full compliance with government auditing 
standards and other applicable professional standards. We also 
continued our efforts to strengthen our quality control system by 
updating our investigation policies and procedures. We recognize that 
other changes to our quality assurance framework may be needed as we 
complete our transition to the role of a statutory OIG. As a result, 
we do not anticipate participating in a peer review until we have 
completed this transition and have conducted and fully addressed any 
recommendations resulting from at least two additional internal 
inspections.  

In addition, we continued to participate in the activities of the 
broader inspector general community, including the Council of the 
Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and the quarterly 
meetings of Legislative Branch Inspectors General.  

Audits and Inspections:  

During this reporting period, we completed our planning survey to 
identify potential risks in GAO's procurement activities and areas for 
future work. Following the survey, we initiated an audit of 
Contracting Officer Representative (COR) training. Two other 
engagements were also initiated during this reporting period: (1) an 
audit of GAO's use of recruiting, relocation, and retention 
incentives, and (2) our independent evaluation of the effectiveness of 
GAO's information security program and practices for fiscal year 2011 
(as prescribed by the Federal Information Security Management Act of 
2002, with which GAO voluntarily complies). 

We also responded to a congressional inquiry to provide (1) updated 
information about our open and unimplemented recommendations and (2) 
the number of recommendations the OIG deems accepted and implemented 
by GAO since April 15, 2010. We provided these responses only to the 
requester and do not anticipate their public release unless made 
public by the requester. 

Investigations and Hotline Activities: 

Regarding our efforts to identify potential fraud, waste, and abuse, 
the OIG's hotline is our primary source of complaints. The OIG 
receives hotline complaints through a variety of sources, such as 
through its toll-free hotline number and e-mail. As shown in table 1, 
we had a total of 164 complaints, 11 of which were open at the start 
of this 6-month reporting period and 153 were new complaints received 
during the period. 

Table 1: Summary of OIG Hotline and Investigative Activity, April 1, 
2011, through September 30, 2011: 

Complaints: 

Open at start of period: 11; 
Received: 153; 
Referred to FraudNet: 79; 
Closed, insufficient information/no basis: 64; 
Referred to other GAO units or other agencies: 10; 
Closed investigations: 7; 
Open at end of period: 4. 

Source: GAO OIG. 

[End of table] 

The 11 open cases from the prior semiannual reporting period covered a 
wide range of subjects, such as issues related to telework, transit 
benefits, access to GAO 's computer network, management of a computer 
data center, a former employee volunteering to work, and the loss of 
GAO records management functions. Of these 11 cases, we closed 7--3 
because of no basis for further action and 4 after conducting 
investigations. As a result of our investigations, we made 
recommendations to improve GAO's monitoring of the telework program 
and to strengthen internal controls over transit benefits, and GAO has 
initiated corrective actions. 

During the current reporting period, we received 153 new complaints. 
Seventy-nine of the 153 complaints concerned matters related to other 
federal agencies and were referred to GAO's FraudNet—a governmentwide 
hotline operated by GAO staff that receives complaints of fraud, 
waste, and abuse of federal funds. Of the remaining 74 complaints 
received during the reporting period, we: 

* closed 3 complaints after we conducted investigations. We assisted 
another OIG in reviewing transit benefits that were improperly paid to 
a GAO employee after he left the federal agency. The other closed 
investigations included issues relating to a GAO employee's prior 
employment and a contractor employee making unauthorized international 
phone calls. The case involving the unauthorized phone calls led to 
the recovery of $11,266 in funds for phone calls ($3,549) and lost 
labor time ($7,717). In addition, GAO strengthened controls to prevent 
unauthorized long-distance phone calls. 

* closed an additional 61 complaints when we determined there was no 
basis for additional action. 

* referred 8 complaints--7 to other GAO units and 1 to another agency—
for action that involved such issues as travel card misuse, security 
of GAO's electronic financial disclosure process, excessive requests 
for top secret clearances, and abuse of GAO's room booking system. 

We are continuing efforts on the remaining 2 open complaints. 

Agency Actions on Recommendations Made in Prior OIG Reports: 

GAO took action on recommendations made in six previous OIG reports. 
First, in response to an IG recommendation that GAO consider the 
adoption of suspension and debarment procedures, GAO took the 
following actions. On September 30, 2011, GAO published in the Federal 
Register a notice of a proposed policy statement regarding new 
suspension and debarment procedures. These procedures will be adopted 
as part of GAO's procurement rules and will closely track the 
procedures established in governmentwide procurement regulations, the 
Federal Acquisition Regulation. The period for comments by interested 
parties closed on November 14, 2011. 

Second, in response to recommendations to help ensure that the 
agency's information security program is consistent with the Federal 
Information Security Management Act and other federal requirements and 
guidance, GAO took the following actions, among others: 

* changed its annual systems inventory process to (1) document the 
chief information officers approval of inventory changes and (2) 
identify interfaces between GAO systems and those operated for GAO by 
other agencies and contractors; 

* obtained additional assurances that contractor-operated systems meet 
federal information security requirements; and; 

* established a capability to determine the extent to which security 
controls for GAO notebook computers and workstations are configured in 
accordance with federal requirements. 

Third, in response to recommendations intended to improve the 
effectiveness of GAO's policies and procedures in preventing and 
detecting travel charge card misuse and delinquencies, GAO completed 
all actions. For example, GAO implemented procedures to limit credit 
card issuance and to deactivate individual travel cards for users who 
travel less than twice a year. GAO also implemented policies and 
procedures for reviewing travel card spending limits and automated 
teller machine advances and making recommendations to management 
regarding the appropriateness of the spending and advance limits based 
on data trends. Further, GAO took actions to use OMB Circular A-123, 
Appendix B, Improving the Management of Government Charge Card 
Programs, dated January15, 2009, as a guide in its annual assessment 
of the effectiveness of internal controls over its travel card program. 

Fourth, in response to recommendations intended to provide oversight 
of and controls over GAO's contractor parking policies and practices, 
GAO completed all remaining actions. 

Fifth, in response to our recommendation that GAO re-examine its 
management challenges to determine whether (1) significant actions had 
been taken in the areas of physical security, information security, or 
human capital to justify removal of any of these management challenges 
and (2) other risks have emerged that may also warrant designation as 
GAO management challenges, GAO took further action. Following a series 
of meetings involving GAO's Managing Directors, the Comptroller 
General recently announced his intention to introduce a new Management
Challenge for fiscal year 2012 focusing on the efficiency of GAO 
operations. This initiative will involve examining opportunities to 
streamline and standardize agency business processes and will include 
an "end-to-end" review of GAO's engagement management process. 

Finally, in response to our recommendation that GAO consider the 
desirability and feasibility of expanding its oversight of Tiny 
Findings Inc. in a manner similar to the oversight provided by the 
General Services Administration (GSA) for child-care facilities in 
other federal office buildings, GAO took the following actions. GAO 
agreed to convene a team of Tiny Findings officials and GAO officials 
to review GSA's guidance and assess the desirability of expanding 
GAO's oversight role. A plan of action is to be completed by December 
31, 2011. 

I provided GAO with a draft of this report for review and comment. The 
agency provided technical comments that we incorporated, as appropriate.
Finally, I want to thank GAO's Executive Committee, managers, and 
staff for their cooperation during our reviews. 

cc: 
Patricia A. Dalton, Chief Operating Officer, GAO: 
David M. Fisher, Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer, 
GAO: 
Lynn H. Gibson, General Counsel, GAO: 
GAO's Audit Advisory Committee: 

[End of section] 

Reporting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in GAO's Internal Operations: 

To report fraud, waste, and abuse in GAO's internal operations, do one 
of the following. (You may do so anonymously.) 

* Call toll-free (866) 680-7963 to speak with a hotline specialist, 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

* Online at: https://OIG.alertline.com. 

Obtaining Copies of GAO/OIG Reports and Testimony:  

To obtain copies of OIG reports and testimony, go to GAO's Web site: 
[hyperlink, www.gao.gov/about/workforce/ig.html]. 

Congressional Relations:  

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov: 
(202) 512-4400: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street NW, Room 7125: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

Public Affairs:  

Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngcl@gao.gov: 
(202) 512-4800: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street NW, Room 7149: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

[End of section] 

Footnote: 

[1] Pub. L. No. 110-323, 122 Stat. 3539 (Sept. 22, 2008).