Senate Homeland Security Leaders Ask FCC, USAC to Do Audits of Top 30 Lifeline ETCs
Senate Homeland Security Committee leaders followed up, as promised (see 1709140059), with the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. to urge both to initiate forensic audits of the top 30 companies certified as Lifeline USF program eligible telecom carriers. Chairman…
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Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said last week during and after a hearing on problems with Lifeline that he wanted the forensic audits as a way of pinpointing program abuses. “By taking this immediate action, you will identify actual waste, fraud, and abuse to support appropriate enforcement actions and make necessary policy changes to protect taxpayer dollars,” Johnson and ranking member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and USAC acting CEO Vickie Robinson. “When deciding how to initiate these audits, whether through third-party auditors or other means, we request you take every reasonable step to minimize the cost to taxpayers.” The lawmakers asked Pai and Robinson to follow up by Oct. 13 on how they plan to proceed. The FCC and USAC didn't comment.