Special Report: DOE-OIG-26-05

December 17, 2025

Management Challenges at the Department of Energy - Fiscal Year 2026

The Office of Inspector General is required by statute to annually identify what it considers to be the most significant management challenges facing the Department of Energy. The Office of Inspector General's goal is to focus attention on significant issues with the objective of working with Department officials to enhance the effectiveness of agency programs.

This year's management challenges report provides a high-level view of five challenge areas with specific challenges facing the Department in each area. We identified the different challenges based on our completed and ongoing work, including audits, inspections, investigations, our prior Management Challenges reporting, our risk assessments, and our assessment of ongoing national and Congressional interest. Our intent is to provide the Secretary, other policymakers, and the public with a brief overview of the challenges facing the Department and a starting point to learn more.

This report should assist the Secretary and senior Department officials in addressing its challenges, as well as illustrate the progress that the Department has made to address the challenges.

• DOE-OIG-26-05.pdf (891.94 KB)