OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

CARES Act Flash Report 

May 2020: Where’s the Money? 

The DOI received 

$756 million 

under the CARES Act to 

respond to impacts from 

COVID-19: 

 $453 million for the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) 

 $157.4 million for DOI 

operations (Office of the 

Secretary (OS))* 

 $69 million for the Bureau 

of Indian Education (BIE) 

 $55 million for the Office 

of Insular Affairs (OIA) 

 $12 million for the Bureau 

of Reclamation (BOR)– 

water resources 

 $8.1 million for the BOR– 

policy and administration 

 $1 million for the Office of 

Inspector General (OIG) 

 $500,000 for the BOR– 

Central Utah Project 

Completion Act (CUPCA) 

*The OS transferred $5.1 

million to the National Park 

Service, $3.5 million to the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

$3.7 million to the Bureau of 

Land Management. 

DOI CARES Act Funds as of May 31, 2020 

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, 

Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, 

the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with 

$756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian 

Country, and the Insular Areas. 

This report presents the DOI’s progress as of May 31, 2020. We anticipate 

issuing updated status reports monthly. 

DOI Progress 

DOI programs and bureaus are making progress in obligating and 

spending their CARES Act appropriations (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Funding Status as of May 31, 2020 

Business Appropriation Expenditures Obligations 

Area ($) To Date ($) To Date ($) 

BIA 453,000,000 315,583,440 383,004,575 

(69.7%) (84.5%) 

OS 157,400,000 324,555 2,179,268 

(0.2%) (1.4%) 

BIE 69,000,000 20,210,770 20,211,080 

(29.3%) (29.3%) 

OIA 55,000,000 0 41,401,551 

(0%) (75.3%) 

BOR (Water) 12,000,000 211,444 248,328 

(1.9%) (2.1%) 

BOR (Policy) 8,100,000 702,610 1,563,620 

(8.7%) (19.3%) 

OIG 1,000,000 72,371 72,371 

(7.2%) (7.2%) 

BOR 500,000 0 0 

(CUPCA) (0%) (0%) 

$337,105,190 $448,680,794 Totals $756,000,000 (44.6%) (59.3%) 

Definitions: Expenditures are payments of funds, such as when the 

DOI receives an invoice or a drawdown submission. Obligations are 

legally binding agreements that will result in expenditures. 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-046 • Issued June 15, 2020 1 
 

 

 

   

Top 5 Recipients 

 Government of Guam 

($12 million) 

 Government of the 

U.S. Virgin Islands 

($7.8 million) 

 Federated States of 

Micronesia National 

Government ($7.7 million) 

 Cherokee Nation Tribal 

Government ($7.4 million) 

 Navajo Nation Tribal 

Government ($6.5 million) 

Bureau expenditures 

include the following types 

of services and items: 

 A decontamination trailer 

 Rapid-response janitorial 

services 

 Sanitation and deep 

cleaning 

 Multisurface disinfectant 

 Hand sanitizing wipes 

 Nitrile medical gloves 

 Disposable bath towels 

 Face masks/bandanas 

Details on Award Types 

DOI programs and bureaus have made funds available via contracts 

and grants/financial assistance awards. Figure 2 summarizes the types 

of awards made to date. 

Figure 2: Award Types Used as of May 31, 2020 

Total % of 

Award Type Value ($) Total Value 

Grant/financial 

assistance award 441,334,426 98.4 

Contracts and supplies 4,607,005 1.0 

Other (e.g., equipment, 

personnel) 2,739,363 0.6 

Totals $448,680,794 100% 

Highlighted Recipient – The Navajo Nation 

CARES Act funding is crucial for the health and welfare of the Navajo 

Nation— the fifth largest DOI recipient to date. The Navajo Nation 

extends across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, covering more than 

27,000 square miles, which is larger than 10 individual States. In 

addition, the Nation’s population exceeds 250,000, second only to the 

Cherokee Nation. The Navajo Nation has updated its website with 

information for its members about its CARES Act expenditure plan, 

public health orders, status updates, and more. To date, the Nation has 

reported a total of 6,020 positive cases and 277 deaths, surpassing the 

State of New York’s per capita infection rate. CARES Act funding will 

help the Nation by providing for improved healthcare, water, power, 

and telecommunications infrastructure; agriculture; small businesses 

and other enterprises; elder care needs; first responders; and 

educational needs and scholarships for students entering the healthcare 

and public safety fields. 

COVID-19 vs. CARES Act Expenditures: DOI programs and 

bureaus have also made expenditures using Government charge cards. 

As of May 31, 2020, CARES Act charge card expenditures totaled 

$615,483. The DOI has also spent $5.3 million on COVID-19-related 

purchases that it did not charge to CARES Act funds. The DOI has 

updated some of these COVID-19 expenditures to reflect the use of 

CARES Act funds and told us it may make additional adjustments in 

the future. We do not have information on the exact nature and amount 

of these adjustments as of this report and will provide an update in our 

report covering June expenditures. 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-046 • Issued June 15, 2020 2 
Significant Milestones 

The CARES Act requires 

agencies to submit reports by 

certain deadlines, and the 

Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provided 

further clarification on the 

reporting requirements in its 

Memorandum M-20-21, 

Implementation Guidance for 

Supplemental Funding 

Provided in Response to the 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 

(COVID-19), issued April 10, 

2020. We have included a 

summary of the DOI 

milestones that we are 

monitoring. 

In addition, the DOI must 

report monthly to the OMB, 

the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury, the Pandemic 

Response Accountability 

Committee (PRAC), and the 

appropriate congressional 

committees on any obligation 

or expenditure of large 

covered funds, starting with 

the June 30, 2020 reporting 

period through September 30, 

2021. Large covered funds 

are any funds made available 

in any form (e.g., via grant, 

cooperative agreement, 

contract, loan, loan 

guarantee, award, or other 

mechanism) that exceed 

$150,000. We are awaiting 

confirmation of the monthly 

due date for that report to 

add to the milestone list. 

April 10* Effective the date of OMB Memorandum M-20-21, the DOI 

must identify, track, and anticipate reporting charge card 

spending related to COVID-19. These charge card transactions 

must use “COVID” as an identifier. To date, we have identified 

$5,383,411 in charge card charges coded with the COVID 

identifier. 

April 26 By this date, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with the 

Secretary of the Interior and Indian tribes for making payments 

totaling $8 billion to tribes. A number of tribes, including three 

in Alaska, argued that the allotment is not meant for for-profit 

corporations and should exclusively support tribal governments. 

On May 5, the Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of the 

Interior issued a statement on the path forward for funds to 

tribes, making $4.8 billion available to tribal governments in all 

States. Litigation is still pending regarding the distribution of 

remaining payments to Alaska Native corporations. 

June 9 By this date, the DOI needs to assess and adjust existing 

reporting and audit deadlines, considering how to balance 

existing statutory and regulatory compliance requirements with 

the surge in new workload associated with the COVID-19 crisis. 

June 25 Not later than 90 days after enactment of the CARES Act, the 

DOI must submit to the PRAC a plan describing how the 

covered funds will be spent. (The CARES Act established the 

PRAC to coordinate and support inspectors general in 

performing CARES Act oversight.) 

June 30 Starting with the June 30 reporting period through September 30, 

2021, the Deputy Secretary or Chief Operating Officer must 

review quarterly the progress made on program performance 

under the CARES Act. 

July 10 Not later than 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter, 

each recipient of covered funds exceeding $150,000 shall submit 

a report on use of the funds to the DOI and the PRAC. As part of 

this requirement, the DOI in coordination with the PRAC and the 

OMB must provide “user-friendly” means for recipients to meet 

this requirement. 

July 21 The DOI must submit DATA Act files A, B, and C monthly 

instead of quarterly, starting with the June 30 reporting period. 

These submissions must be certified by the DATA Act Senior 

Accountable Official or Financial Representative Designee for 

COVID-19 related funding. 

July 30 Not later than 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, the 

PRAC in consultation with the DOI must make the reports by 

covered recipients publicly available on a website established by 

the PRAC to foster greater accountability and transparency in the 

use of covered funds. 

*All dates 2020 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-046 • Issued June 15, 2020 3