While the IRS has focused on improving customer service for underserved taxpayers, TIGTA noted that the tax agency doesn’t currently have a definition for such taxpayers.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost’s letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough takes the leader of the Veterans Health Administration to task over recent hiring restrictions within the department and controversial but since-rescinded bonus payments.
The Defense Department agency responsible for vetting workers at most federal agencies originally planned to have a new background check system fully functional in 2019.
A pair of inspector general investigations substantiated claims that VA officials in Aurora, Colo., presided over a toxic work environment that also featured a year-long pause in certain surgeries due to staff departures.
The TIGTA report compared a 2020 IRS directive that required annual audits on some individuals making more than $10 million to a wider income range, finding that the former yielded more assessments.
Congressional inquiries were spurred by a media report that the Coast Guard kept hidden a multi-year investigation into sexual assault at its service academy.
The IRS has reduced its office space by 2 million square feet since fiscal 2018, but the watchdog said it could save millions in real estate costs with additional steps.
While the amount of office space required by federal agencies has been a longstanding issue, there’s more attention on it due to the increased use of telework since the pandemic.
Some of the GAO’s priority recommendations include overhauling the General Schedule classification and pay system and simplifying agency hiring authorities.
The GAO recommended that Border Patrol clarify the amount of personal property from individuals in its custody that should be stored and what items may or may not be discarded.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases explained to members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic why guidance shifted so much during the first several months of the pandemic.