Federal agencies could save $87 billion by following through on IG recommendations that they haven’t implemented, says a report from two senators active in oversight.
More than 15,000 recommendations are outstanding, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, suggesting that Congress should reduce funding for agencies until they do more to comply.
The highest number of unimplemented recommendations is at HUD, more than 2,100, while the greatest dollar amount is at DoD, more than $33 billion.
The report follows hearings into unimplemented recommendations that also highlighted IG complaints about agencies failing to provide the cooperation that auditors and investigators are due under the law. In some cases, IGs have had to resort to the threat of subpoenas to gain access to certain records.
A bill (S-579) to strengthen IG powers, including to assure their access agency records that they determine they need with only limited exceptions, has passed the committee but has not received a vote in the full Senate.
