GAO Report on NASA OIG Released

GAO: Inspectors General: Actions Needed to Improve Audit Coverage of NASA

“We believe that the lack of OIG recommendations regarding the economy and efficiency of NASA’s programs and activities has resulted in the relatively low amount of reported monetary accomplishments when compared to other OIGs during fiscal year 2007. By comparing the OIG’s budgetary resources of about $34 million for the same year with the combined monetary accomplishments for audits and investigations, there is a $0.36 return for each budget dollar. When this calculation is made for all 30 OIGs with IGs appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the cumulative return for each budget dollar is approximately $9.49, or about 26 times that of the NASA OIG. Also, when compared to these other OIGs, the year that the NASA OIG had its largest reported monetary accomplishment from audits, it ranked 27 in return for each budget dollar out of the 28 OIG offices reporting monetary accomplishments for fiscal year 2007.”