Publicly Released: December 18, 2019
Introduction
The DoD Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) has completed a risk assessment of the DoD’s grant closeout process as required by the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act of 2016, Public Law 114-117. Our objective was to determine whether an audit of the DoD’s grant closeout process was warranted. Based on our review of the DoD FYs 2017 and 2018 GONE Act data submissions and 59 grant files, we identified risks associated with the DoD grant closeout process and determined that an audit of the DoD’s grant closeout process is warranted. This risk assessment does not contain recommendations.
Background
The DoD grants and cooperative agreements are Federal assistance agreements for specified purposes. The major difference between grants and cooperative agreements is that grants are assistance awards for which no substantial involvement is anticipated between the DoD and the recipient during performance of the contemplated activity, whereas cooperative agreements are awards for which substantial involvement between the DoD and the recipient is anticipated. On January 28, 2016, Congress passed Public Law 114-117, also referred to as the GONE Act, to help Federal agencies identify and close out expired grants. In accordance with the GONE Act, the Office of Management and Budget issued Management Procedures Memorandum No. 2016-04, to require Federal agencies to report open Federal grant and INSPECTOR GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 4800 MARK CENTER DRIVE ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA 22350-1500 Memorandum 2 │ DODIG-2020-041 cooperative agreement awards with periods of performance that had expired before October 1, 2015, and identify the challenges in closing out these awards.
This report is the product of Proj. No. D2019-D000AT-0177.000