WASHINGTON
– Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) today reintroduced
bipartisan legislation beefing up a 2008 inspector general (IG) protection law
that has been routinely flouted by
successive administrations from both political parties. The Securing
Inspector General Independence Act is cosponsored by Senators Rob Portman
(R-Ohio), Tom Carper (D-Del.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.),
Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
“There’s
really only bad precedent from prior administrations ignoring the inspector
general protection law. Worse still is that a court upheld an Obama
administration action, and the Trump administration was able to apply the same
standard. Congress should expect more of the same if it doesn’t act to clarify
the law. Our bill spells out Congress’ expectations from the Executive Branch
when the president decides to remove an IG, and prevents conflicts of interest
that can arise when IGs are replaced with political appointees,” Grassley,
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.
“Inspectors General
are essential to helping Congress save taxpayer dollars and hold government
accountable to the American people. These hardworking agency
watchdogs must be allowed to do their jobs without political
interference. After the last four years, we need to make certain that
future Administrations are not able to interfere with Inspector General
investigations,” said Peters, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “I’m proud to help lead
this important, bipartisan effort to safeguard the independence of Inspectors
General and ensure that these watchdogs are better able to hold federal
agencies accountable.”
“This
bipartisan bill makes it clear that important and necessary steps must be taken
before an Inspector General can be removed from their post. Congress must be
given a detailed account of the reasons for the removal, and a full 30 days to
consider those reasons while the Inspector General remains on the job. These
protections are crucial to ensuring Congress fully understands the reasons a
president would remove an Inspector General and ensures IGs are independent and
empowered to root out waste, fraud, and abuse,” Portman, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, said.
Though
the Constitution establishes the President’s authority to manage executive
branch employees, the 2008
Inspector General Reform Act requires
the president to provide Congress with a written explanation at least 30 days
prior to removing an IG to prevent politically-motivated terminations. However,
less than a year after it was enacted, President Obama fired AmeriCorps IG
Gerald Walpin without providing sufficient details as Congress had intended under
the law, prompting Grassley and bipartisan members of the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to push for more answers. A court
later ruled that the administration wasn’t required to provide additional
reasons prior to removing an IG – a case
cited by the Trump
administration when
it initially refused to provide details following the removal of
Intelligence
Community IG Michael Atkinson and
State Department
IG Steve Linick.
The Securing
Inspector General Independence Act clarifies the 2008 law by requiring
any administration to provide a “substantive rationale, including detailed and
case-specific reasons” prior to removing an IG. It also limits the use of
administrative leave for IGs, including during the 30 days following the
removal announcement. Both presidents Obama and Trump used administrative leave
to effectively sideline IGs during the 30-day period. To ensure the
independence of the IG community, the bill requires acting IGs to be selected
from among senior-level employees within the watchdog community. To protect the
integrity of investigations and audits during an IG transition, the bill
requires regular training to IG employees on their whistleblower rights.
The
bill is endorsed by the National Whistleblower Center, Government
Accountability Project, the Partnership for Public Service and the Senior
Executive Association. The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency (CIGIE) was consulted during the bill’s development.
Legislative
text is available
HERE.
A summary of the bill’s provisions can be found
HERE.
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