Federal auditors, inspectors general and state oversight offices released an unusually dense set of public records during the week of September 14, 2026. The single largest finding by dollar value came from the Government Accountability Office, which estimated that federal agencies spent $9.5 billion in salary costs on paid administrative leave in 2025 — a sixfold increase over 2023 — with roughly $6.7 billion of that total attributable to the deferred resignation program.
Below is The Investigative Journal’s weekly survey of notable records releases, grouped by category, with direct links to the underlying documents. Every figure cited here is drawn from the primary record itself.
Federal Audits
GAO: $9.5 Billion in Paid Administrative Leave Salary Costs
GAO’s review of payroll data from 76 agencies — including all 19 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies, covering roughly 95 percent of the civilian workforce — found that use of paid administrative leave rose 435 percent between 2023 and 2025. The auditors estimated agencies in the review spent $9.5 billion in salary costs on that leave in 2025, and calculated that about $6.7 billion was associated with the deferred resignation program, under which the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to place employees on leave until they resigned or retired by September 30, 2025.
The report also flags data-quality problems that may overstate the totals. GAO found agencies reported 144 percent more paid administrative leave in pay periods containing a public holiday between 2023 and early 2025 — holidays should not be recorded as administrative leave. OPM has issued corrective guidance but does not plan to retroactively fix historical errors in data already released to the public. Separately, GAO found OPM cannot readily calculate the actual short-term cost of leave used for workforce reduction efforts, because it is reported in the same category as general administrative leave.
GAO recommended OPM publicly disclose unresolved data reliability issues and create a distinct payroll category for leave tied to workforce reduction. OPM agreed with both recommendations; both remain open. Source: GAO-26-108477 (published September 15, 2026) — full report, 42 pages.
GAO: Postal Cost-Cutting Slowed Mail, Hit Rural Customers Hardest
A second GAO report examined how the U.S. Postal Service’s ten-year strategic plan has affected delivery. Effective October 2021, USPS added one to two days to expected delivery times for certain products to accommodate a shift from air to ground transportation. In April 2025, it eliminated end-of-day or afternoon collection at the more than 24,000 post offices located more than 50 miles from a Regional Processing and Delivery Center.
USPS also lowered its service performance targets in fiscal year 2021 and, according to GAO, has not met most of them since. The auditors found that the cost-cutting initiatives slowed service for some mail and had a disproportionate impact on rural customers, according to oversight entities and industry stakeholders. GAO recommended USPS detail its planned service improvements in the next strategic plan update, expected in 2027. USPS agreed. Source: GAO-26-108527 (September 17, 2026).
GAO: DHS Whistleblower Retaliation Cases Waited Years for Decisions
Records reviewed by GAO indicate the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General took more than three years to investigate the majority of whistleblower retaliation cases it opened and closed in fiscal years 2018 through 2025 — 39 of 73 cases. Of those 73, OIG substantiated 11.
By statute, the Secretary of Homeland Security is to decide whether and how to take corrective action within 30 days of receiving the OIG’s report. GAO found that did not occur in any of the 11 substantiated cases. As of May 2026, the Secretary had decided to take corrective action in five cases and had not decided in the remaining six; the cases had awaited decision for periods ranging from four months to more than two years. DHS officials told GAO there is no process or designated official responsible for ensuring timely review.
GAO made one recommendation to DHS OIG and two to the department. Both agreed. Source: GAO-26-108106 (September 17, 2026) — full report, 70 pages.
GAO: DHS Terminated 362 Grants, Deobligated About $1 Billion
Following a February 2025 executive order directing agencies to review and terminate grants, DHS paused disbursement of all obligated grant funding. With the Secretary’s approval, four DHS components subsequently terminated 362 grants and deobligated approximately $1 billion between January 20 and September 30, 2025. FEMA accounted for 215 of the terminations and roughly $999.4 million of the deobligations; USCIS terminated 111 grants, the Science and Technology Directorate 35, and CISA one.
GAO found the department’s approach made grant programs difficult to execute, with some disaster mitigation projects delayed by nearly a year. The report also notes that FEMA reallocated funds away from certain states under a terrorism prevention and response grant program and later reinstated them after a court ordered it to do so. GAO recommended DHS build a process to incorporate lessons learned before taking similar actions; the department agreed. Source: GAO-26-109097 (September 17, 2026).
GAO: Three New Control Deficiencies in Treasury’s Financial Statement Process
GAO’s annual audit of the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements identified three new control deficiencies in Treasury’s fiscal year 2025 preparation processes: legal contingencies were not properly reported in the draft note disclosure; note disclosures were not consistently accurate and complete; and access recertification reports for Planning Analytics, the system used to prepare the statements, were inadequate to determine whether access granted was appropriate.
Treasury resolved three prior recommendations during the audit cycle. Nine recommendations remain open — six carried over and three new. Treasury concurred with all three new recommendations. Source: GAO-26-109081 (September 15, 2026).
GAO also released GAO-26-108836 on September 17, finding that HHS should strengthen oversight and enhance security controls for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which experienced a cybersecurity incident in 2022 that caused a nationwide service disruption lasting several hours.
Inspector General Findings
Lead IG Issues First Quarterly Report on Operation Epic Fury
The Lead Inspector General released its first quarterly report to Congress on Operation Epic Fury, covering April 1 through June 30, 2026. The report states that munitions expenditure has produced strategic inventory shortfalls and exposed industrial base bottlenecks, including shortages of solid rocket motors, explosives, propellants and skilled workers.
The report relays a Department of War comptroller estimate placing total costs at approximately $33.4 billion as of June 29, 2026 — comprising roughly $22.3 billion in expended munitions, $7.4 billion in obligations and $3.7 billion in equipment losses priced at replacement cost. The Lead IG agencies state they did not independently verify or audit those figures beyond their own audit work, and readers should treat the cost estimate as an agency figure rather than an audited finding. Source: Lead IG quarterly report (released September 14, 2026) — PDF.
VA OIG: Mental Health Care Deficiencies at San Antonio Hospital
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General published findings on September 14 from a January 2026 inspection of mental health care at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in San Antonio, part of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. The inspection produced 13 recommendations.
Among the documented findings: the facility reported 33 inpatient mental health beds in service, but inspectors identified only 25, two of which were out of service due to water leakage. Records review showed prescribers documented discussing medication risks and benefits before treatment in 36 percent of cases reviewed, and only 13 percent of discharge instructions were written in easy-to-understand language. Inspectors also found camera recording of an inpatient unit without the signage VHA directives require, and safety appeals involving ligature risks that had remained open for as long as six years. Source: VA Office of Inspector General Report VAOIG-25-03943-269, available through the VA OIG reports library.
HHS OIG: Hospital Received at Least $12.4 Million in Medicare Overpayments
An HHS Office of Inspector General audit issued September 14 and posted September 17 found that Methodist Hospital did not fully comply with Medicare billing requirements. Of 100 sampled inpatient and outpatient claims totaling $1,426,020, the hospital complied on 73 and did not fully comply on 27, producing sampled net overpayments of $256,926 for calendar years 2020 and 2021. Extrapolating across the $62 million Medicare paid the hospital during the audit period, OIG estimated a net overpayment of at least $12.4 million and recommended a refund. The hospital did not concur with the first two recommendations, and the matter remains unresolved. Source: Report A-09-23-03001.
The Justice Department Office of Inspector General also issued Report 26-089 on September 17, an audit of ATF controls over personnel-related risks associated with operating internationally. The report carries nine recommendations and no questioned costs.
State Records
Michigan: $59.5 Million in Training Awards Flagged as a Material Condition
The Michigan Office of the Auditor General released a performance audit of the Going Pro Talent Fund on September 17. Auditors concluded that the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s use of awards totaling $59.5 million for employer reimbursement of new-employee on-the-job training costs was inconsistent with the department’s own requirement that funded training lead to a credential. The finding was rated a material condition — the most serious classification the office issues — and the department disagreed with it.
Auditors also determined the department’s oversight of Michigan Works! Agencies was “not sufficient,” noting no file reviews were completed for the nearly three-year period ending June 2025. In a sample of 33 awards, auditors found none contained documentation supporting verification of trainee eligibility. The fund distributed $63.2 million in fiscal 2023, $62.8 million in 2024 and $56.5 million in 2025. Source: Report 186-0412-25.
Pennsylvania: 33 Volunteer Firefighter Relief Audits Across 21 Counties
The Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General published 33 audits of volunteer firefighters’ relief associations across 21 counties on September 15. Nine associations had no findings, 17 had three or fewer, and five had four or more. Two — the Isabella VFRA in Fayette County, with nine findings, and the F.W.M. VFRA in Wyoming County, with six — were identified as at risk of losing state aid if noncompliance is not corrected within 60 days. Relief association aid is funded by a 2 percent tax on fire insurance policies sold by out-of-state carriers; in 2025, $73 million was distributed to 2,507 municipalities. Source: Auditor General release.
FOIA and Declassification
National Archives Posts Long-Sought 9/11 Records
Marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the National Archives published records declassified through rulings by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel on appeals 2022-008 and 2023-001. The release includes a roughly 7,000-word summary of President’s Daily Brief material compiled by the 9/11 Commission, consolidating PDBs from the three years preceding the attacks that referenced al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden or Afghanistan. The CIA separately released 71 underlying PDB products.
The release also includes 11 Memoranda for the Record documenting 9/11 Commission interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Samuel Berger, Richard Clarke, Michael Scheuer and George Tenet. Portions remain redacted under Executive Order 13526 exemption codes protecting sources and methods, weapon system technology, war plans and protectee security. Source: National Archives — PDB summary PDF.
Data Releases
Census: Median Household Income Reaches Record $87,460
The Census Bureau released its annual income, poverty and health insurance estimates on September 15. Real median household income was $87,460 in 2025, described by the bureau as the highest on record in a series dating to 1967 and up 2.6 percent from $85,210 in 2024. The official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2 percent, representing 34.5 million people. The child poverty rate reached a historic low of 13.4 percent and the Hispanic poverty rate a historic low of 13.9 percent.
The Supplemental Poverty Measure stood at 13.1 percent, not statistically different from 2024. An estimated 26.7 million people, or 7.9 percent of the population, were uninsured for all of 2025. The female-to-male earnings ratio for full-time, year-round workers rose to 83.9 percent from 80.6 percent. The bureau noted a weighted CPS ASEC response rate of 61.3 percent, down from 62.0 percent the prior year — a methodological caveat worth carrying into any analysis built on these figures. Source: Press Release CB26-151.
Records Warranting Deeper Investigation
Three items from this week merit follow-up reporting. The first is the administrative leave data itself. GAO’s own report documents that the underlying payroll records contain known, unresolved errors and that OPM does not plan to correct historical data already released. Because the deferred resignation program was justified in part by projected long-term savings, the absence of a reliable short-term cost figure leaves the savings case unverifiable from public records. A records request for agency-level payroll extracts would be the logical next step.
The second is the DHS whistleblower docket. GAO documented six substantiated retaliation cases still awaiting a corrective-action decision as of May 2026, some pending more than two years, with no official assigned responsibility for moving them. The identities and circumstances of those cases are not public. The status of each — and whether decisions have since issued — is a narrow, answerable question.
The third is the Michigan Going Pro material condition. The state disagreed with a finding covering $59.5 million in awards, which means the dispute is unresolved on the record rather than settled. The underlying grant files, and the department’s formal written response, would establish whether the credential requirement was waived, reinterpreted or simply not enforced.
All parties named in audit and inspection findings above had the opportunity to respond through the formal agency comment process documented in each report. The Investigative Journal reports agency responses as recorded in the public record. Findings described as allegations or as disputed remain unresolved.