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![handle is hein.crs/govefuo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional
SResearch Service
Inspectors General and the Implementation of
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
May 23, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic brought increased attention to the risk of fraud and waste in large federal
spending programs. Congress created substantial oversight for pandemic programs, but many Members
have expressed concern with reports of fraud in some programs. As the Biden Administration implements
the bipartisan infrastructure bill (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [IIJA]; P.L. 117-58), which
provides over $500 billion in new infrastructure spending, it has announced a more proactive approach to
addressing potential fraud and waste. This approach includes an emphasis on risk management and
increased engagement with inspectors general (IGs) to identify and address potential risks before they
arise.
On April 29, 2022, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a guidance memorandum to
executive branch agencies on IIJA implementation. The guidance directs agencies to work with IGs and
OMB to evaluate their program implementation plans and to adopt a risk-based approach to
implementation that may reduce the need for costly, after-the-fact remediation.
This strategy is a form of enterprise risk management, which can reduce waste and fraud and increase
effectiveness of programs by identifying, assessing, and managing risks in order to eliminate the
potential for disruptive events. Enterprise risk management is not new in the federal government, but its
effectiveness here may be instructive for future policy implementation.
This Insight begins with a brief summary of the new guidance memorandum as it relates to IGs, followed
by discussion of its broader link to enterprise risk management. Finally, the Insight identifies aspects of
this issue that congressional stakeholders may wish to monitor.
OMB's Guidance on Implementation of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act
OMB's guidance on the IIJA (Advancing Effective Stewardship of Taxpayer Resources and Outcomes in
the Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) includes specific instructions for
agencies implementing the law and follows from broader implementation principles laid out in Executive
Order 14052 (Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Among other things, the
memorandum provides specific direction on engagement between agencies and their IGs.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports. congress.gov
IN11933
CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govefuo0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)