WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Massachusetts, issued the following news release: Letter to the Postmaster General (PDF) | Letter to USPS Inspector General (PDF) Boston (November 27, 2024) Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led members of the Massachusetts delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), and Ayanna Pre more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released the following public communication dated Nov. 1, 2024, from Dawn Bulgarella, CEO of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System: * * * To: Ms. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services Attention: CMS-1808-IFC P.O. Box 8013 Baltimore, MD 21244-8013 RE: Medicare Program; Changes more ST

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Nov. 28 -- The city of Albuquerque issued the following news on Nov. 27. 2024: * * * City safeguards reveal misused funds. * * * The City of Albuquerque remains committed to supporting those most in need by providing housing vouchers in partnership with trusted non-profit organizations. The City began a corrective action plan to address issues with a housing voucher provider, the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico (SHCNM), following a misuse of voucher funds. more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12093) on Nov. 25, 2024, by financial economics analyst Raj Gnanarajah and defense logistics and resource management policy analyst Cameron M. Keys: * * * Defense Primer: FY2024 Department of Defense Audit Results The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-576) requires annual audits of financial statements for federal executive agencies, among other requirements. Under more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Defense Inspector General issued the following memorandum on Nov. 19, 2024, entitled "Quality Control Review of the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP FY 2023 Single Audit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology." Here are excerpts: * * * MEMORANDUM FOR CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU DIRECTOR, U.S. ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION DIRECTOR, NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE COMMANDER, AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS SUBJECT: Evaluation of the Nation more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Defense Inspector General issued the following report (No. DODIG-2025-042) on Nov. 20, 2024, entitled "Evaluation of Department Actions To Address Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Military Installations in the U.S. and its Territories." Here are excerpts: * * * MEMORANDUM FOR CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR ACQUISITION AND SUSTAINMENT UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RESEARC more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Defense Inspector General issued the following project announcement on Nov. 19, 2024, entitled "Evaluation of the National Guard Bureau Office of Complex Investigations Administrative Investigations of Reported Sexual Assaults." Here are excerpts: * * * MEMORANDUM FOR CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU DIRECTOR, U.S. ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION DIRECTOR, NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE COMMANDER, AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS SUBJECT: Evalua more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 -- The U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General issued the following news release: Audit The objective of this audit was to determine whether the DoD Components implemented actions designed to increase the diversity of the postsecondary, DoD funded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs and the DoD's applicant pool for STEM positions and whether the DoD tracked and measured the performance of these actions. In July 202 more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General issued the following news release on Nov. 26, 2024: Audit Inspector General Robert P. Storch announced today that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) released the "Management Advisory: Improvements Needed in DoD's Planning for and Use of SSAE 18 Engagements." This management advisory informs DoD leadership of the deficiency the DoD OIG found related to the DoD's plan for and use of more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States Office of Inspector General issued the following news release: Bridgetown, Barbados Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis today signed two significant memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the governments of Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis, securing a total of up to $800 million in potential financing to support financing in cybersecurity, renewable energy, and critical areas for th more PR

JACKSONVILLE, Florida, Nov. 26 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued the following news release on Nov. 25, 2024: United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Kevin Karl Wills, Jr. (48, Ft. Lauderdale) today pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive kickbacks in return for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries for the provision of COVID-19 tests and to purchase and sell Medicare beneficiary identification numbers. He faces a maximum penalty of 5  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization released the following testimony by Kurt DelBene, assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer of the Veterans Affairs Department, from a Nov. 20, 2024, hearing entitled "VA Cybersecurity: Protecting Veteran Data From Evolving Threats": * * * Good morning, Chairman Rosendale, Ranking Member Cherfilus-McCormick, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization released the following testimony by Michael Bowman, director of information security audits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, from a Nov. 20, 2024, hearing entitled "VA Cybersecurity: Protecting Veteran Data From Evolving Threats": * * * Chairman Rosendale, Ranking Member Cherfilus-McCormick, and members of the Subcommittee, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) app more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health released the following testimony by Jose Ramos, vice president of government and community relations at Wounded Warrior Project, from a Nov. 20, 2024, hearing entitled "Life After Limb Loss: Examining VA Amputee Prosthetics Care": * * * Chairwoman Miller-Meeks, Ranking Member Brownley, and Members of the Subcommittee - thank you for inviting the Wounded Warrior Project to share its perspective on the issues that post-9/1 more PR

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 -- Human Rights Watch issued the following report on Nov. 25, 2024, entitled "Unchecked Injustice - Kenya's Suppression of the 2023 Anti-Government Protests". * * * Here is a summary: On March 30, 2023, Joyce Kemunto, a 39-year-old resident of Kibera in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, was at home with her children, including her 4-month-old baby, when police chased protesters in her neighborhood as authorities clamped down on anti-government protests across the country. Little did more PR

URBANA, Illinois, Nov. 28 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois issued the following news release: Brett Michael Bartlett, 37, of Fountain Valley, California, was sentenced on November 25, 2024, to 188 months in prison for wire fraud, mail fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. Bartlett was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his imprisonment and to pay $22,502,092.66 in restitution to his victims. During his previou more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Interior Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 2024-FIN-022) on Nov. 11, 2024, entitled "Independent Auditors' Reports on the Tribal and Other Trust Funds and Individual Indian Monies Trust Funds Financial Statements for Fiscal 2024 and 2023." Here are excerpts: * * * Memorandum To: Jerry Gidner, Director, Bureau of Trust Funds Administration From: Nicki Miller, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations Subject more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Interior Inspector General issued the following semiannual report to Congress for the period ending Sept. 30, 2024. Here are excerpts: * * * Message From the Inspector General This reporting period marks five years since I became the Inspector General of DOI. During that time, we have issued 261 audit, inspection, and evaluation reports that made 1,374 recommendations and identified $78.5 million in questioned costs. Our investigations have resulted in $161.8 milli more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Interior Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 2024-CGD-015) on Nov. 7, 2024, entitled "Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Grants Awarded to the State of Arkansas by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service." Here are excerpts: * * * Memorandum To: Martha Williams, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service From: Colleen Kotzmoyer, Director, Contract and Grant Audit Division Subject: Final Audit Report - Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Grants Awar more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 24-114) on Sept. 26, 2024, entitled "Drug Enforcement Administration's Use of Polygraphs in the Pre-employment and Foreign Vetting Processes." Here are excerpts: * * * EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Objectives The U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) use of polygraph examinations. Our objectives were to assess the DEA's  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 24-115) on Sept. 30, 2024, entitled "Federal Bureau of Prisons' Management of the National Gang Unit." Here are excerpts: * * * Executive Summary Objective The objective of this audit was to assess the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) management of the National Gang Unit (NGU) and its process for identifying, designating, and tracking incarcerated gang members. Results in Brief In January 2021, the more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 25-002) on October 24, 2024, entitled "Audit of the Office of Justice Programs Victim Assistance Funds Subawarded by the Arizona Department of Public Safety to the Jewish Family and Children's Services of Southern Arizona Inc. Tucson, Arizona." Here are excerpts: * * * EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provided funds to the Arizona Dep more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 24-116) on Oct. 1, 2024, entitled "U.S. Marshals Service's Special Deputation Authority." Here are excerpts: * * * EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Objective The objective of this audit was to assess whether the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) established adequate policies, procedures, and controls to manage special deputations. Our scope covered fiscal years 2020 through 2023. Audit Results The USMS exercises the a more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 25-006) on Nov. 26, 2024, entitled "Office of Justice Programs Victim Assistance Grants Awarded to the Wyoming Office of the Attorney General, Cheyenne, Wyoming." Here are excerpts: * * * EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Objective The objective of the audit was to evaluate how the Wyoming Office of the Attorney General's Division of Victim Services (Wyoming DVS) designed and implemented its crime victim assistance  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 -- The Justice Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 24-099) on Sept. 24, 2024, entitled "U.S. Marshals Service's Home Intrusion Detection System Program." Here are excerpts: * * * Executive Summary Objective Our audit objective was to assess the United States Marshals Service's (USMS) programs and practices concerning the protection of federal judges at their places of residence, with a focus on the Home Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) program. Our  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (TNSrep) -- The U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General issued the following management advisory memorandum (No. 25-005) on Nov. 21, 2024, entitled "Notification of Concerns Identified in the Drug Enforcement Administration's Transportation Interdiction Activities:" * * * To: Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General Anne Milgram, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration From: Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General Subject: Notification of Concerns Identified in th more PR

BALTIMORE, Maryland, Nov. 28 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland issued the following news release: A New York business owner has been found guilty of recklessly transporting a dangerous probable carcinogen without proper documentation and knowingly selling an unregistered pesticide in Maryland. The conviction was announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Allison Landsman, of the U.S. Environmental Protection more PR

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Nov. 26 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio issued the following news release: Basheer Jones, 40, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been charged in a two-count information with conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud for using his role as a public official for personal financial gain by seeking to defraud multiple community stakeholders out of more than $200,000. He previously served as an elected Cleveland city council member representi more PR

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Nov. 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued the following news release on Nov. 26, 2024: * * * Defendant and Others Illegally Smuggled and Induced Non-U.S. Citizens Into the United States for Private Financial Gain * * * United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Cesar David Martinez-Gonzalez, 39, of Chester, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Gerald  more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 -- Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, issued the following news release: Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) joined by Congressmen Morgan Griffith (VA-09) and Jeff Duncan (SC-03) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Inspector General Andrew Katsaros requesting the OIG investigate who at the FTC leaked to the press a potential criminal referral of Pioneer Natural Resources Chairman Scott Sheffield to the U.S. Department of Justice. In the letter the lawmakers write more PR

ARLINGTON, Virginia, Nov. 27 -- The Professional Services Council issued the following news release on Nov. 26, 2024: The 12th Annual Development Conference, presented by the Professional Services Council (PSC), will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, VA (in addition to being live-streamed) on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Why Attend? This half-day event will explore international capacity building, shared government and development company objectives, and the critical role o more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 -- Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., introduced the "We Want Our Healthcare Money Back Act" on Sept. 18, 2024. The text of the bill was released on Nov. 25. H.R. 9645. A bill to require the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report on Medicare and Medicaid fraud; to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration more ST

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 -- Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., introduced the "Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act" on Sept. 23, 2024. The text and summary of the bill was released on Nov. 29. H.R. 9747. A bill making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2025, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall  more ST

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 -- Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Florida, issued the following news release on Nov. 25, 2024: On Tuesday, November 19, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) and U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (TX-17) launched the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. On Friday, November 22, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) launched the DOGE Caucus in the Senate. Upon the Senate introduction, Congressman Bean said, "Our national debt has surpassed a s more PR

LARAMIE, Wyoming, Nov. 27 -- The University of Wyoming issued the following news release: Small-business owners can learn how to better protect their businesses Tuesday, Dec. 3. Heather McCormick, Dean Manes and Jodi Crawford will lead a Wyoming APEX Accelerator webinar titled "Protect Your Small Business: SBA's Office of Inspector General" from 11 a.m.-noon. To register, go here. Registration is free. Wyoming APEX Accelerator, part of the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Netw more PR

CHARLESTON, West Virginia, Nov. 26 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia issued the following news release on Nov. 25, 2024: Christopher Grant, 41, of Buckhannon, was sentenced today to five years of federal probation, including four months on home detention, and ordered to pay $35,168 in restitution for conspiracy to steal public money, property or records. Grant admitted that he fraudulently obtained approximately $14,336 in unemployment benefits, inclu more PR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 -- The White House issued the following news release: On Monday, November 25, 2024, the President signed into law: H.R. 599, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3500 West 6th Street, Suite 103 in Los Angeles, California, as the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office; Thank you to Representative Gomez and the entire California delegation for their leadership. * * * H.R. 807, the "Working Dog Commemorative Coin Act," which requires the Secr more PR