I had to rat on someone for the first time ever

I feel for you. If working for the federalis, you will probably be endlessly frustrated, since you sound like a motivated worker. The bosses probably know the score, but it would take too much effort to boot the guy and it cost them nothing to look the other way. I worked as a contract engineer for the USAF for 3 years. The government paid near the lowest starting salaries, so hired the bare minimum C-minus grads who had no choice but tolerate the remote location. Most figured that showing up was enough effort for the day, so spent all day reading magazines and goofing off. Motivated people didn't last (like me). The government is always over-staffed because bosses gain status by getting people under them.

Re foreign engineers, if their degree is from another country it may be worthless. The best ones have an MS or Phd from a U.S. university, which at least validates them. My wife has a friend with an electrical engineering degree from a prestigious university in her developing country. He was studying to pass an exam for an engineering position at the local power company and asked my help. He couldn't solve a simple 8th grade algebra equation. There is no "language barrier" in math. They rely on rote memorization, family ties always matter, and cheating is rampant. That explains why their buildings collapse regularly and development projects fail. Some truly are smart, but you never know. Anyway, companies get what they pay for, as do us taxpayers.