Highlights of the Comptroller General's Panel on Federal Oversight and the Inspectors General

The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, (IG Act) created independent offices headed by inspectors general (IG) responsible for conducting and supervising audits and investigations; promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness; and preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in their agencies' programs and operations. To carry out the purposes of the act, the IGs have been granted authorities and responsibilities to provide for their independence and effectiveness. These include the authority to have direct access to all records and information of the agency, to hire staff and manage their own resources, to receive and respond to complaints from agency employees, to request assistance from other government agencies, to issue subpoenas to obtain information and documents, and to administer oaths when taking testimony. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs asked us to review whether additional IG authorities and responsibilities such as those provided in H.R. 2489, as well as other changes, could further enhance the independence and effectiveness of the IGs. Introduced in 2005, H.R. 2489 includes provisions for (1) a defined term of office for the IGs and conditions for removal, (2) IGs to submit their budgets directly to OMB and the Congress without agency review or approval, (3) the statutory establishment of a combined PCIE and ECIE Council, (4) changes in IG investigative and law enforcement authorities, and (5) reporting the results of IG inspections in their semiannual reports. The committee staff also asked us to review IG pay structure issues and qualifications. We also agreed to review recommendations made in our prior report to convert certain DFE IGs to presidential appointment and to consolidate IG offices to increase overall IG independence and effectiveness.