What We Did:
The objective of this audit was to determine whether U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Indo Pacific Command officials used Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to support the coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID 19) pandemic response and operations in accordance with Federal laws and DoD policies. This report focused on USSOUTHCOM’s execution of CARES Act funding. We issued separate reports on the execution of CARES Act funding by the U.S. Africa Command and the U.S. Indo Pacific Command. See Appendix A for details on the audit scope and methodology.
What We Found:
USSOUTHCOM officials generally used CARES Act funds to support COVID 19 pandemic response and operations in accordance with Federal laws and DoD policies. Specifically, for 83 of the 85 projects reviewed, USSOUTHCOM officials used $32.34 million in CARES Act funds to prepare for, prevent, and respond to the COVID 19 pandemic. USSOUTHCOM officials justified the use of CARES Act funds for:
• 8 IT equipment projects, valued at $675,000, to purchase laptops, laptop docking stations, mobile communication kits, monitors, headsets, cameras, common access card readers, and other equipment for USSOUTHCOM users in support of the increased telework environment; and
• 75 humanitarian assistance projects, valued at $31.67 million, primarily to refurbish and build medical facilities and to purchase mobile field hospitals, portable hand wash stations, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and medical and cleaning supplies for communities at high risk for COVID 19 infection across the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.
However, for the two remaining projects reviewed, USSOUTHCOM officials used $1.10 million in CARES Act funds to construct maternity wards, a purpose that did not meet the requirements of the CARES Act, because the DSCA did not require geographic combatant commands to obtain approval before changing the funding source of previously approved humanitarian assistance projects. As a result of this audit, USSOUTHCOM officials corrected the projects’ funding source.
In addition, USSOUTHCOM officials committed $2.11 million in DoD humanitarian assistance and disaster relief funds for 10 projects before obtaining the DSCA’s concurrence to execute costs more than 10 percent above the approved project amounts because the DSCA and USSOUTHCOM lacked controls to reinforce the requirement for additional DSCA review and concurrence. USSOUTHCOM officials stated that they overlooked the DSCA requirement due to the large number of projects they had to execute within 11 months of receiving the CARES Act funds.
Following existing requirements and establishing additional controls can help the DSCA and USSOUTHCOM improve oversight over humanitarian assistance projects and ensure that future emergency funding will be executed in accordance with Federal laws and DoD policies. The proper execution of USSOUTHCOM’s CARES Act funds strengthens the public trust in the DoD’s ability to safeguard taxpayer dollars and provides Congress with greater assurance that CARES Act funds were spent to address DoD requirements and partner nation requests for the COVID 19 pandemic response.
What We Recommend:
We recommend that the DSCA Director require geographic combatant commands to obtain DSCA approval before changing the funding source of an approved humanitarian assistance project to reprogrammed funds with a limited and defined funding purpose. We also recommend that the DSCA Director and the USSOUTHCOM Humanitarian Assistance Program Manager implement internal controls that reinforce the requirement to obtain DSCA concurrence for cost increases that exceed 10 percent of the approved project amounts. In addition, we recommend that the USSOUTHCOM Humanitarian Assistance Program Manager take steps to ensure the combatant command submits changes in project funding for DSCA and USSOUTHCOM approval, and documents the resulting decision.