Report Contents
What OIG Reviewed
In response to a whistleblower complaint, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed allegations of nepotism and favoritism in the contract award process for Department of State (Department) Foreign Service Selection Board (FSSB) public member positions.
What OIG Recommends
OIG made 13 recommendations to the Department. OIG made five recommendations to the Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) to update and communicate policies and procedures to minimize favoritism in the awarding of FSSB public member contracts. OIG also made four recommendations to GTM to ensure that it recruits and selects the best qualified applicants to be public members. OIG made two recommendations to the Bureau of Administration to ensure compliance with acquisition law when awarding and administering public member contracts. Finally, OIG made two recommendations to GTM to review and strengthen its internal control system for the administration of FSSBs and develop a corrective action plan to remediate any internal control deficiencies.
What OIG Found
OIG found that GTM’s Office of Performance Evaluation (GTM/PE) did not demonstrate that it considered all Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) criteria when recruiting and selecting FSSB public members. Less than half of the public members who served from 2019 through 2021 were fully qualified under the FAM.
OIG found that family members of Department employees, including GTM/PE employees, received public member contracts to serve on FSSBs or related boards administered by GTM/PE every year from 2014 to 2021. OIG also identified some instances of personal friends and acquaintances of GTM/PE officials receiving public member contracts. OIG found that the selections of relatives and friends of GTM/PE staff were inconsistent with Department ethics rules and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.
OIG found that GTM/PE’s public member recruitment and selection process lacked adequate management oversight and internal controls to minimize the risk of favoritism and to ensure that the best qualified applicants were recruited and chosen. In addition, OIG found that the contracting personnel awarding public member contracts failed to provide adequate contract oversight, compounding the problem.
Finally, OIG Identified several instances of partiality in the administration of certain FSSBs.
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should review the Foreign Affairs Manual qualifications for Foreign Service Selection Board public members to determine whether any revisions are necessary, such as broadening or changing public member qualification criteria to avoid potential conflicts.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should revise its Foreign Service Selection Board public member outreach letters to include all the qualifications listed in the Foreign Affairs Manual and any other internal requirements.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) should issue regular reminders to GTM personnel of its policy prohibiting relatives of Department employees from serving as Foreign Service Selection Board public members and of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) should prohibit GTM employees involved in the selection of Foreign Service Selection Board public members from referring for consideration individuals with personal connections.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should consider broadening its list of law enforcement organizations receiving Foreign Service Selection Board public member outreach letters.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should revise its written procedures on Foreign Service Selection Board public member recruitment to define and institute a transparent and consistent “word of mouth” referral policy, which should be communicated to staff and relevant external parties.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should update the Foreign Service Selection Board public member contract request memos to accurately describe the recruitment process and the specific recruitment source of the individual who is to receive the contract.
The Bureau of Administration should direct its Contracting Officer for Foreign Service Selection Board public contracts to comply with all FAR requirements, including requirements on notices, justifications, and determination of pricing.
The Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of Global Talent Management, should review and consider whether there are more appropriate alternatives to the current procurement vehicle and payment structure for obtaining Foreign Service Selection Board public member service.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should develop a mechanism to retain and track Foreign Service Selection Board public member applicants, including through a dedicated email account or other IT system to receive applicants.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should revise the Foreign Service Selection Board public member recruitment written procedures to include formal selection procedures such as a ranking or scoring rubric to ensure that offers are not made to less than fully qualified applicants until all better qualified applicants have been considered.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) should develop stronger internal controls for the administration of Foreign Service Selection Boards by GTM Office of Performance Evaluation staff, such as a written recusal policy for GTM employees with relatives in the Foreign Service and written instructions regarding communications concerning sensitive FSSB matters.
The Bureau of Global Talent Management should review the internal control system for the administration of Foreign Service Selection Boards and develop a corrective action plan to remediate any internal control deficiencies prior to the next Foreign Service Selection Boards convening.