The Homeland Security Department rarely moves to suspend or disbar contractors who perform poorly, according to a report from the department's inspector general, Richard Skinner.

The report identified 23 cases where DHS terminated contracts but didn't follow up to see if the reasons for termination merited suspending or debarring the contractors. Many of the terminations came after DHS learned contractors had violated immigration laws — which could be grounds for a further suspension. In 21 of those cases, the department didn't save information about the termination in its contracting database, so future procurement officers won't know why the contracts were terminated.

"Reluctance to pursue suspension and debarment could put the department at risk of continuing to conduct business with poorly performing contractors and may result in decreased productivity and increased cost," Skinner's report found.

The IG advised the department to implement two sets of new policies: one to automatically review contractors for suspension or debarment when a contract is terminated, and another to make sure the reasons for the termination are stored in a database. DHS agreed with both recommendations and said it has already implemented those policies.