The U.S. Labor Department is failing a basic test of government accountability: tracking how taxpayer dollars are spent.
Among international grants worth about $70 million total and awarded in 2013 by Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs to improve working conditions and fight child labor overseas, 62 percent lacked proper documentation, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Two Senate Republicans, Utah's Orrin Hatch and Tennessee's Lamar Alexander, requested the report, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Mr. Hatch says that because documents dealing with grant recipients' eligibility are among those missing, those taxpayer dollars “could ... be funding organizations that have actually been banned from partnering with the federal government.” The GAO says the missing documentation puts Labor “at increased risk of not meeting” program goals and makes “whether Labor followed all of its procedures” uncertain.
And that's all the more disturbing because a 2012 report by Labor's inspector general found similar problems with contract documentation.
The GAO's findings demand “immediate action from (Labor) Secretary (Thomas) Perez,” says Mr. Alexander. But with documentation problems predating Mr. Perez' tenure as secretary and extending beyond the GAO-reviewed grants, it's Congress that ultimately must ensure proper accountability for all spending by Labor — and all other federal agencies.
