Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions

Summary

Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities. To execute their missions, offices of inspector general (OIGs) conduct and publish audits and investigations—among other duties. Two major enactments—the Inspector General Act of 1978 and its amendments of 1988 (codified at 5 U.S.C. Appendix)—established federal IGs as permanent, nonpartisan, and independent offices in more than 70 federal agencies.

OIGs serve to assist Congress in overseeing executive branch—and a few legislative branch—agencies. They provide recommendations and findings to their affiliated agency head and to Congress that may save the government millions of dollars per year. As a result, Congress may have an interest in ensuring that federal OIGs have the appropriate authorities and access to information they need to perform their investigations, audits, and evaluations. Concurrently, Congress has a responsibility to protect some records and information, such as national security information or information about an ongoing criminal investigation, from improper release. This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal OIGs and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices.

Congress has a number of tools at its disposal to enhance OIG oversight, including through the introduction or passage of legislation, through formal letters to and from overseers, and through oversight hearings. Recent legislative initiatives have enhanced OIG oversight by creating new IGs (H.R. 302 and H.R. 3770, 113th Congress), expanding the authority of existing ones (P.L. 113-6, H.R. 314, 113th Congress), or increasing IGs’ reporting requirements to Congress (H.R. 1211, 113th Congress; H.R. 658, 112th Congress)

In August 2014, 47 federal IGs wrote a letter to leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform indicating difficulties in acquiring records or other information from the agencies with which they are affiliated. The letter stated that certain agencies’ unwillingness to provide requested information represents “potentially serious challenges to the authority of every Inspector General and our ability to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.” The IGs asked Congress to provide “a strong, generally applicable reaffirmation” of Congress’s intentions in the IG Act to require agencies to provide federal OIGs with access to all requested records and information.

In September 2014, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing at which the IGs from the allegedly unresponsive agencies testified, detailing difficulties in obtaining agency information. All Members at the hearing expressed concerns about the IGs’ inability to access requested information.

Strengthening government oversight through IGs and ensuring proper access to agency records, among other issues, will likely continue to be of interest to Congress in the future.