Federal Manager's Daily Report

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The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have called on the White House to make it a priority to fill vacant IG positions.

There currently are 13 vacancies among the IG positions that require Senate confirmation, 10 of which have been vacant for more than a year and four of which have been vacant for more than five years, said Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

“There is no substitute for the steadying effect of Senate-confirmed leadership. Although many acting inspectors general have admirably performed their watchdog responsibilities, the lack of a confirmed leader threatens to impede the ability of these offices to conduct the oversight and investigations necessary to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected, public safety risks are identified, and that whistleblowers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse are protected,” they wrote.

“In addition, the lack of a confirmed inspector general can create the potential for conflicts of interest and diminish the essential independence of inspectors general,” they wrote.

Vacancies in IG positions have been the subject of concern for years from Congress, the GAO, good government groups and the IG community, which maintains a running index of them on oversight.gov as a means of calling attention to the issue.

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