Report Card on FY 2010 Audits
Abstract
This is a progress report on efforts to improve audit quality in response to recommendations made in Senator Grassley's oversight report issued in September 2010. After receiving a series of anonymous letters from whistleblowers alleging gross mismanagement in the Audit Office within the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Defense (DOD), Senator Grassley's staff initiated an in-depth oversight review. This work assesses audit reporting by the OIG. It began two years ago. Senator Grassley's first assessment of audit reporting was published on September 7, 2010. It provided a thorough analysis of the 113 audits issued by the Audit Office during FY 2009. This report clearly showed that audit oversight capabilities, which cost the taxpayers $100 million a year, were seriously degraded. It urged the IG to "hit the re-set button" and re-focus on the core mission as outlined by the IG Act of 1978. The report offered 12 specific recommendations for reforming the audit process and bringing it into alignment with the IG Act. The gaping hole in oversight coverage, caused by the IGs' degraded audit capability, leaves huge sums of the taxpayers' money vulnerable to fraud, waste, and outright theft. This is the driving force behind Senator Grassley's ongoing review of OIG audits. Audits are the IG's primary tool for exercising oversight. The audit is the tip of the IG spear, and it needs to have a finely honed cutting edge. Right now, it is disabled. Rather than being hard-hitting and on target, audits tend to drift around their intended targets, failing to reflect the clarity of purpose expected of IGs. Until the Audit Office regains its edge and audit quality improves, its subpar work will continue to fail the taxpayers and DOD clients.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA544910
Entities
Organizations
- Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense