Publicly Released: June 10, 2022
Objective
Our objective was to determine whether the DoD obligated Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to grants and cooperative agreements for expenses incurred in preventing, preparing for, or responding to coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID‑19).
Background
Under the CARES Act, the DoD received $10.6 billion in funding to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic, domestically and internationally. As of August 10, 2021, USAspending.gov reported that the DoD awarded 1,009 grants and cooperative agreements, with a total obligated value of $970.2 million of CARES Act funding. However, we determined that the DoD’s CARES Act obligations on grants and cooperative agreements reported through USAspending.gov were not accurate or complete. During this audit, the DoD Office of Inspector General issued a separate audit report and a management advisory that determined that the DoD reported unreliable information through USAspending.gov and recommended that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer address the errors. Because the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer agreed to implement the recommendations from the advisory, we are not making any related recommendations in this report.
Through discussions with DoD Components, we determined that the DoD applied CARES Act funding to only 69 cooperative agreements and did not apply CARES Act funding to any grants. We did not review 33 of the 69 cooperative agreements, with a total obligated value of $594.7 million, because they were included in an earlier DoD Office of Inspector General audit. As a result, we reviewed 36 cooperative agreements, with a total obligated value of $127.1 million of CARES Act funding.
Finding
The DoD obligated CARES Act funding to cooperative agreements for expenses incurred in preventing, preparing for, or responding to COVID‑19. Specifically, for the 36 cooperative agreements we reviewed, the DoD Components complied with CARES Act requirements when they obligated $127.1 million in CARES Act funding for COVID‑19‑related purposes. The DoD Components complied with requirements by adequately justifying that the funds were for a purpose permitted by the CARES Act. Of the $127.1 million in CARES Act funding that the DoD Components obligated, they expended $90.3 million to protect DoD military and civilian personnel and their families and safeguard National Security capabilities.
This report is the result of Project No. D2022-D000AT-0029.000.