Comer, Fallon Probe Potential Pattern of Travel Policy Violations at DOE

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon (R-Texas.) are raising concern of a potential pattern of waste, fraud, and abuse in reimbursement overpayments at the Department of Energy (DOE) and are calling on the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to initiate a review of expense reimbursement processes. In response to a Committee request, DOE previously provided documents to the Committee containing expense vouchers related to lodging and travel by DOE employees on Secretary Granholm’s summer 2023 electric vehicle (EV) road trip. In a letter to the OIG, the lawmakers flag numerous anomalies in these documents and warn they could signal a failure to adhere to government accounting standards.

“The expense vouchers reviewed by the Committee contain numerous anomalies, some without required justifications for policy deviations, that could indicate a higher risk of waste, fraud, and abuse of government resources. Collectively, they signal a potential failure to adhere to best practices related to government accounting standards intended to ensure compliance with the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR).In light of these concerns, we request that your office initiate a broader review of DOE’s internal controls related to travel and expenses,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Oversight Committee is committed to combating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the federal government and safeguarding taxpayer dollars. In 2021, the OIG conducted an inspection report which identified a top DOE official incurring nearly $15,000 in improper payments. In that report, OIG found “that the overpayments were a result of the former Director’s lack of adherence to travel regulations during his travel and an incorrect coding in the Standard Accounting and Reporting System.”

“Documents produced to the Committee by DOE contain examples of staff lodging above per diem rates, travel expenses not included on the original authorization, and the use of government issued purchase cards potentially inconsistent with DOE policy. […] In recent years, DOE OIG found that a DOE official received reimbursement overpayments in connection with travel expenses and made recommendations to DOE management related to recouping those overpayments and ensuring 100 percent review of claims submitted by certain high-level officials,” the lawmakers continued.

Read the letter to DOE Inspector General Teri L. Donaldson here.