Federal Government Policy and Business

Watchdog Warns Uncorrected Mistakes Risk Billions During Disaster Recovery

Government Executive: A watchdog agency is warning about potential fraudulent spending by the federal government in the wake of several major natural disasters this year as local officials from affected regions pledged full transparency on their recovery spending at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has failed to address recommendations made by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general over the last five years to mitigate waste, fraud and mismanagement in providing disaster relief, the auditors said in a special report this week. More than three-dozen reports led to 40 recommendations and identified $322 million in questionable spending, mistakes the IG said FEMA would probably repeat.

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