Reports - Inspection / Evaluation

We determined that USDA has not fully implemented cybersecurity and governance controls within Artificial Intelligence systems in compliance with federal standards, leaving the agency at risk of data breaches or reputational harm.

We determined that the Forest Service did not fully comply with Federal laws and regulations when executing the pre-award contracting process for the sampled contracts from November 15, 2021, to March 31, 2025, resulting in more than $48.2 million in unsupported costs.

We determined that USDA’s IT security directives are not sufficiently relevant and effective to address recent threats, as they are not consistently updated and some are similar in content or function, resulting in potential risks to USDA’s IT security posture.

We determined that the Client Experience Center did not have adequate control activities over USDA client agencies’ computer equipment billing, which resulted in more than $83.3 million in unsupported costs.

The Office of Inspector General performed an inspection of four mission areas within the U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine if the USDA and its mission areas are effectively identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities on their publicly accessible web applications and websites.

We determined that the Forest Service did not provide financial assistance to facilities that purchase and process ecosystem restoration byproducts in accordance with IIJA requirements, resulting in $86 million in questioned costs and $94 million in unsupported costs.

We determined that the Forest Service did not establish clear performance goals or outcomes for IIJA funds to support workforce development and training and commingled IIJA funds with other funds, resulting in more than $4.6 million in questioned costs. 

We determined that the FS Pacific Southwest Region’s Regional Office has deficiencies in the facility’s maintenance and safety procedures and observed that appropriate physical security measures did not exist in some areas, resulting in potential exposure to security threats.

USDA OIG'S objective was to determine whether Food and Nutrition Service has taken actions to secure IT hardware to effectively prevent Supplemental and Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit theft through card skimming, card and terminal cloning, and other similar fraudulent methods. 

USDA OIG'S objective was to evaluate aspects of the Plan of Action and Milestones process used to reduceidentified vulnerabilities.