Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on federal inspectors general (IG), focusing on: (1) IG appointments and related issues; (2) the Department of Energy (DOE) IG resources devoted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) audit; and (3) IG resources and staff size at 34 agencies with agency-appointed IG.

GAO found that: (1) federal legislation provided for the creation of IG offices in federal agencies; (2) 26 IG were appointed by the President and 34 by agency heads; (3) all IG had essentially the same powers and duties; (4) in general, IG reported to and were under the general supervision of the agencies' heads, and were not to report to or were subject to supervision by any other agency officer or employee; (5) if an IG was removed from office or transferred, the responsible official was required to report in writing the reasons for such action to Congress; (6) FERC had $141 million of budget authority for FY 1992 and 1,498 full-time staff positions; and (7) the DOE IG office at FERC had six auditors who had bachelor of science degrees in accounting and varied experience.