Most Deparmental Discretionary Funding Programs are Competitive and Merit-Based, but Opportunities Exist to Further Improve the Awards Processed

摘要

Seven operating units of the Department of Commerce administer 72 discretionary financial assistance programs providing more than $1 billion a year, or about a quarter of the Departments budget, to state and local governments, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and individuals. We conducted a comprehensive audit of the Departments discretionary funding programs at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The purpose of the audit was to identify the laws, regulations, policies and procedures established to guide agency officials in making discretionary spending decisions, to evaluate the adequacy of departmental and operating unit policies and procedures applicable to the administration of Commerces financial assistance programs, and to determine the extent to which the policies and procedures were followed.