FAA Did Not Adequately Monitor and Enforce IIJA-Funded Contracts' Compliance With Buy American Requirements
Summary
DOT OIG Audit FI2026025 found that FAA failed to adequately monitor and enforce Buy American requirements for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)-funded facility and equipment (F&E) contracts. Five of nine contracts reviewed (totaling approximately $272.7 million) were missing required Buy American-related contract clauses. Three contracts used foreign products (totaling $115.9 million) without proper waivers — in one case no waiver was obtained, in another the waiver approval process was not followed, and in a third a longstanding waiver was used without reassessment. FAA's Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation also contained incomplete and inaccurate Buy American data, impairing DOT's ability to report accurately to OMB. OIG made six recommendations to improve FAA's monitoring and enforcement.
FAA contracting officers who awarded IIJA-funded F&E contracts without Buy American clauses — or who relied on outdated waivers for foreign products — may face internal corrective action following DOT OIG's six recommendations. Prime contractors and subcontractors on those contracts should review their clause packages to confirm BABA compliance, as missing clauses could become a basis for contract disputes or disallowed costs under IIJA.
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What changed
DOT OIG Audit FI2026025 assessed FAA's award and administration of IIJA-funded F&E contracts for compliance with Buy American laws and BABA requirements. The audit identified three systemic failures: (1) missing Buy American clauses in five of nine contracts worth $272.7M, (2) improper foreign-product waivers for three contracts totaling $115.9M (including one with no waiver at all, one with an unfollowed approval process, and one relying on an unreassessed longstanding waiver), and (3) inaccurate Buy American data in FPDS-NG that undermined DOT's reporting to OMB.
Government contractors performing under FAA IIJA-funded F&E contracts — especially those awarded without Buy American clauses or using foreign products — face heightened scrutiny. FAA contracting officers bear direct responsibility for clause inclusion and waiver compliance. The six OIG recommendations, once implemented, will likely tighten contract award requirements and increase post-award oversight for all IIJA-funded procurements at FAA.
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Apr 22, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Audit Reports
Date
April 20, 2026
FAA Did Not Adequately Monitor and Enforce IIJA-Funded Contracts’ Compliance With Buy American Requirements
Origin Self-Initiated Project ID FI2026025 File Attachment View PDF Document Our Objective(s)
To determine to what extent the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) award and administration of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)-funded facility and equipment (F&E) contracts meet domestic content laws and Agency requirements. Our findings are organized as follows: (1) FAA’s Buy American IIJA-funded contract clauses, (2) FAA’s Buy American waiver process, and (3) FAA’s Buy American IIJA-funded contract data.
Why This Audit
Under IIJA, FAA received $25 billion between fiscal years 2022 and 2026 to address aging infrastructure—$5 billion of which is for F&E procurements. Enacted as part of IIJA, the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) expanded existing domestic content laws. Our previous work identified several issues with FAA’s oversight and administration of its Buy American program applicable to contracts. We initiated this audit given these previous findings, the magnitude of FAA’s IIJA funding, and the intended impact of domestic content laws on the Nation’s economy.
What We Found
FAA did not always include required Buy American-related clauses in IIJA-funded contracts.
FAA Contracting Officers must include all applicable Buy American-related clauses in IIJA-funded contracts. However, five of the nine contracts in our review were missing Buy American-related clauses—representing approximately $272.7 million in IIJA funds that could be put to better use.
FAA did not always properly issue Buy American waivers to support the use of foreign products in IIJA-funded contracts.For the nine contracts included in our review, we confirmed FAA used foreign products in three of them—representing a total of $115.9 million in IIJA funds.
These three contracts had Buy American waiver issues where FAA did not obtain a required waiver, did not follow the waiver approval process, and used a longstanding waiver without reassessing it.
FAA lacked complete and accurate Buy American data on its IIJA-Funded contracts.FAA’s Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation (FPDS-NG) contained incomplete and inaccurate Buy American-related contract data, affecting DOT’s ability to report accurate Buy American data to the Office of Management and Budget.
Recommendations
We made 6 recommendations to improve FAA’s monitoring and enforcement of Buy American requirements for IIJA-funded contracts.
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