President Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general during his first week in office — from departments as varied as the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs.
On Wednesday, eight of those ousted inspectors general filed a lawsuit against Mr. Trump’s administration, saying the terminations were “unlawful and unjustified.” Inspectors general named in the lawsuit include those from the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education.
Court documents filed in Washington, D.C., district court state those inspectors general conduct and facilitate oversight of more than $5 trillion of appropriated funds annually and more than 3.5 million federal employees.
But what exactly is an inspector general and what do they do?
What is an inspector general?
On October 12, 1978, Congress passed the Inspector General Act, which established twelve Federal Offices of Inspector General tasked with rooting out fraud and waste and providing non-partisan recommendations at government agencies. There are now more than 70 statutory inspectors general appointed either by the president or by agency heads.
They are non-partisan public servants who serve during both Democratic and Republican administrations. Most federal agencies — ranging from the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Education to other federal entities such as Amtrak, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Smithsonian Institution — have an Office of Inspector General, or OIG.
The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an independent entity in the executive branch tasked with improving and increasing professionalism in OIGs, keeps an updated list of OIGs, which also indicates if an office is vacant.
Inspectors general are mandated to conduct independent and objective audits, investigations and inspections, according to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. The Inspector General Act specifically directs inspectors general to investigate and audit programmatic activities run by the organization to ensure funds are being directed correctly, foster efficiency and prevent “fraud and abuse in the programs administered by each agency.”
Inspectors general are independent, and while they are under the general supervision of the agency, by law, they can not be prevented from conducting an audit or investigation. Inspectors general report to their agency head and Congress, allegations of misconduct by their office are referred to the integrity committee of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
How is an inspector general appointed and can they be fired?
Federal inspectors general can be appointed either by the president or by the agency head. The president nominates all inspectors general at Cabinet-level departments and agencies which then go through Senate confirmation. These include departments such as the Department of Defense, Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development.
Federal entities not at Cabinet level, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and United States Postal Service, can appoint their inspectors general.
The Inspector General Act specifies all are appointed without regard to political affiliation and solely based on integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration or investigations.
A federal law passed in 2022 requires the president to notify Congress 30 days before the removal of an inspector general, as well as requiring a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons.”
The law also designates that a “first assistant” would automatically replace an inspector general in the event of a vacancy, and the president needs to communicate reasons for not making a formal nomination to fill a vacant position after a certain period of time.
What does an inspector general do?
Inspectors general act as independent watchdogs within their organizations.
They conduct investigations to root out fraud, abuse and other allegations, after which they file public reports on their assigned agencies. Paul Martin, the former USAID inspector general, filed a report detailing the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to the agency — finding nearly $500 million in food aid was at risk of spoiling as it sat in ports, ships and warehouses after the funding cuts.
He was fired a day after the report was released.
In court documents, fired Veteran Affairs Inspector General Michael Missal said he investigated reports of mysterious deaths at a VA medical center in West Virginia, identifying a nursing assistant who later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder.
Larry Turner, the inspector general for the Department of Labor, said in court documents that as part of his oversight of the unemployment insurance fraud program he identified an estimated $191 billion that had been stolen from the pandemic funding Congress had authorized for the department.
Melissa Quinn
contributed to this report.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inspector-general-what-is-it-what-do-they-do/
