The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has unanimously approved inspector general reform legislation that it says is designed to promote greater accountability by guaranteeing that qualified individuals are appointed as IGs, that IGs remain independent of inappropriate pressure or influence, and that all IG reports and audits are easily accessible.
The Inspector General Reform Act of 2007, S-2324, sponsored by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., would require agencies to give Congress 30-days notice and the reasoning behind any proposed removal of an IG, and provide legal counsel to IGs separate from that of their agency.
An integrity and efficiency council for IGs would be established under the bill to receive, review, and refer for investigation allegations of wrongdoing that are made against IGs or other staff members.
A similar House bill passed nearly unanimously this summer prompted a veto threat from the White House, which sees the council as redundant and other provisions as too limiting of executive power. For example, under the legislation IGs could only be removed "for cause," something the White House said was an "intrusion on the President’s removal authority and his ability to hold IGs accountable for their performance."
The bill would also require all IG websites to be directly accessible from agency home pages, all IG reports to be posted there within three days of release, and prevent IGs from accepting bonuses, while at the same time raising IG pay to level III of the executive schedule — plus three percent.
It calls on the would-be integrity and efficiency council to recommend three replacements in the event of a vacancy, and as a way to promote transparency in the funding process, would require the President’s budget submission to state how much money is being requested for each IG office, as well as the funding level the IG requested for the office.
