Oversight
Federal discipline was never supposed to be punitive. The MSPB appeal framework reflects that
COMMENTARY | Forget what you think you know about federal employee discipline. The MSPB's penalty review is not focused on the severity of the misconduct. It's focused on one thing: can the employee be fixed?
The number of feds in tax debt spiked during the pandemic
Around 215,000 federal employees are behind on their tax bills, IG finds.
More than 3-in-4 allegations of sexual assault against federal prison staff are going unresolved
Such allegations are spiking and the Justice Department is failing to implement key reforms meant to institute a zero-tolerance policy toward prison rape, GAO finds.
Agencies doled out $186B in improper payments last year, GAO says
That fiscal year 2025 improper payment number is up by $24 billion from the previous fiscal year, even as the Trump administration says that it’s tamping down on fraud.
Catch me if you can’t: How fraudsters are outpacing the government
COMMENTARY | The government must stop chasing money lost to fraud and instead focus on preventing the crime before payments go out. This requires policy changes so agencies can share information and be rewarded for stopping losses at the source.
Severe staffing cuts at GSA are harming agencies across government, watchdog says
Due to the reductions, agencies reported that they were unsure about who to contact at GSA and had to delay project timelines.
Inspectors general targeted for funding cuts in Trump’s FY27 budget
Oversight groups warn that slashing budgets spent on rooting out fraud and waste will “fundamentally hamper” accountability and operations.
House Dems: OPM ‘omitted’ employee departures from retirement backlog investigation
In responding to a December 2025 congressional inquiry, the Office of Personnel Management noted the separation of around 35 customer service representatives last year, but failed to mention more than 100 departures from its Retirement Services division.
VA’s former EHR lead indicted for concealing contractor gifts
The Justice Department alleges that John Windom accepted and sometimes demanded various gifts while helming the electronic health record modernization at Veterans Affairs.
Updated
Inspector general group to be led by former Trump administration adviser
A government oversight organization said that the selection of Cheryl Mason, who is the inspector general for the Veterans Affairs Department, shows the White House is “putting more of a thumb on the scale” of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
Inspector general’s reported plan to run for Congress is a Hatch Act violation, lawmakers and ethics orgs say
Federal employees are not permitted to run for partisan office or to prepare for such an election.
Trump’s anti-fraud task force poised to scrutinize benefits programs
The new White House task force will withhold government funding for state and local benefits programs if their anti-fraud controls are viewed as lacking.
Watchdog warns of challenges as IRS handles first tax season after Trump staffing cuts
The Government Accountability Office also reported that the tax agency has reversed some of its losses due to the deferred resignation program.
Many federal programs are missing from an OMB inventory, watchdog reports
A recent Government Accountability Office report found that a federal program inventory is incomplete, not in compliance with statutory requirements and includes inaccurate information.
Whistleblower report about waste leads to downsizing at one agency, OSC reports
The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals increased staffing to deal with a backlog of appeals, but an individual flagged that the expanded workforce was not readjusted when case levels returned to normal, resulting in about $30 million in unnecessary costs.
Homeland Security Department is stonewalling watchdog investigations, GOP senator alleges
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that he would procedurally obstruct the legislative process until officials respond to his questions about department oversight.
Memo to JD Vance: Fighting the War on waste
COMMENTARY | The White House's proposed war on fraud, waste and abuse is neither new nor an assured outcome for any presidential administration, but history offers some lessons that can help get started.
Bipartisan lawmakers worried about shaky progress on modernized government worker background check system
The IT system undergirding the overhauled background check program is nearly a decade behind schedule and billions over budget.
GAO report offers new details on the workers agencies lost last year
The government watchdog agency found that nearly 144,000 federal workers were accepted into the deferred resignation program in the first half of 2025.
Amid immigration agent hiring surge, watchdog flags shortages on the U.S.-Canada border
Only 77% of surveillance specialist openings were filled at the end of fiscal 2024, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Indian Affairs regional employees have more work and fewer people to do it, watchdog reports
Officials from one region said that Trump staff cuts impaired a response to a wildland fire, while others characterized disbursing Inflation Reduction Act funds as an “unfunded mandate.”
