House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) wants to know why Department of Defense (DOD) officials suddenly and without public explanation cancelled its replacement for an old travel reservations system that generated nearly $1 billion in improper payments from 2016 to 2018.
Cisneros is a former Democratic congressman who represented California from 2019 to 2021 before being appointed to the Pentagon job by President Joe Biden in April 2021.
Mace pointed out that the cancellation news was only circulated in an internal DOD memo on May 24, 2023. In that memo, Cisneros said “DoD organizations currently using MyTravel are no longer required to use the system ... DoD will cease MyTravel operations on September 13, 2023.”
The South Carolina Republican was puzzled because, she told Cisneros, “just this past March, the [Biden] administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request called for full implementation of the new system, stating that MyTravel, ‘has been implemented for Fourth Estate Defense organizations and will be rolled out to the Services starting in late FY 2023.’
“That request followed an October 21 memo you issued requiring use of the system across DoD components that stated, ‘MyTravel will be the single official travel system for currently supported travel functions, as well as those supported in the future, as they become available.’
“The rapid reversal on MyTravel—a system being developed for DoD for over four years at a direct cost of more than $20 million—is troubling. It inevitably raises broader questions about DOD’s ability to manage its finances and information technology.”
The Biden administration, Mace pointed out, praised the new system for DOD, saying “MyTravel ... will improve processes, reduce number of human touch-points needed, automate travel management, and improve financial controls. MyTravel is an intuitive, fully integrated commercial application that is efficient, saves time, and improves the end-to-end travel and expense process. Built-in compliance mitigates [the likelihood of] risks to improve post-payment review and audit results … ”
While no public announcement of the cancellation was issued by DOD, Mace’s subcommittee staff was briefed by Pentagon officials, who “indicated the primary reason the contract was terminated was that DOD components are unprepared to implement MyTravel. DoD officials attributed this to a delay in performing financial management system upgrades to integrate those systems with MyTravel.
“Absent this integration, the officials said, forced adoption of MyTravel would reduce the auditability of those components. With many components not using MyTravel, they argued, the projected volume of MyTravel transactions would be too low to justify the cost DoD would be obligated to pay.”
The old DTS system was first implemented in 1998 and has proven to be expensive and wasteful. The $8.4 billion in travel outlays the system covered last was the most since 2011, according to Mace.
“The system is also notoriously difficult and time-consuming to navigate. A reporter who surveyed DoD personnel about their experiences with DTS noted, ’the current Defense Travel System has a reputation for being as user-friendly as the bubonic plague,'” Mace told Cisneros.
Improper payments have plagued DTS for years, being highlighted by multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports, including a 2019 report that attributed part of the problem being a lack of understanding of the causes of the problem.
“DOD components also have not incorporated considerations of cost-effectiveness into decisions about whether to take actions that could reduce improper payments. Without addressing these issues, DOD will likely miss opportunities to implement the changes necessary to address the root causes of improper travel payments,” the report continued.
In September 2021, DOD awarded a Sole Source contract to Seattle-based SAP Concur Technologies, Inc. to develop the new system for the defense department. SAP Concur describes itself as “the world’s leading brand for integrated travel, expense, and invoice management. Driven by a relentless pursuit to simplify and automate everyday processes, the solutions guide employees through business trips, move authorized charges directly into expense reports, and automate invoices approvals. By integrating near real-time data and using AI to analyze transactions, businesses can see what they’re spending, improve compliance, and avoid possible blind spots in the budget.”
A spokesman for SAP Concur could not be reached for comment.
A DOD spokesman declined to comment, saying it would be “inappropriate to comment for an article based on congressional correspondence.”
