DOL Goes Before House Subcommittee for Oversight on Financial Mismanagement (OSHA)

Tomorrow morning, Thursday 6/2/2011, the House HELP Subcommittee will be holding an oversight hearing on the Department of Labor’s financial mismanagement as reported in recent Inspector General Reports.

The panelist will will be the Assistant IG for Audit, the Department’s Chief Financial Officer (in the hot seat), and the KPMG (the giant global accounting firm who can’t make heads or tails on DOL’s books). The title of the House hearing is: “Investigating Financial Mismanagement at the U.S. Department of Labor“. Because of the recent IG reports, the topics are likely to include DOL CIO, DOL CFO, OSHA, MSHA, Wage & Hour, and other groups within the department.

The hearing logistics are as follows:

Date & Time: 6/2/2011 at 10:00am (eastern)

Location: Rayburn 2175

Expected duration: 1.5 to 2 hours

To read the written testimony of the panelists or to watch the webcast live click here: http://edworkforce.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=243332.

The impetus for this hearing was the audit statement of findings made by KPMG as well as the results of the investigation conducted by the Inspector General. Needless to say… the findings weren’t all that pretty.

Below is the media advisory released by the Subcommittee:

WASHINGTON, D.C. | June 1, 2011 –

On Thursday, June 2 at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN), will hold a hearing entitled“Investigating Financial Mismanagement at the U.S. Department of Labor.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Since fiscal year 1997, the Department of Labor (DOL) has received a clean audit of its finances. However, on May 23, 2011, the department’s Office of Inspector General released an independent audit for fiscal year 2010, which identified four “material weaknesses” and two “significant deficiencies” in the department’s financial management. Weaknesses include a lack of sufficient controls over both financial reporting and access to key financial systems.

At a time when the national debt has surpassed $14 trillion, it is critical Congress exercise its authority to ensure the federal government is spending taxpayer dollars responsibly. The department oversees a number of efforts aimed at assisting individuals out of work, including a variety of job training programs, and mismanagement of scarce resources could potentially harm workers and taxpayers.

Thursday’s hearing will provide members an opportunity examine the findings of the audit and the department’s financial mismanagement.