{ "id": "R43814", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43814", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 587456, "date": "2016-07-20", "retrieved": "2020-01-03T15:06:22.003688", "title": "Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions", "summary": "Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities. To execute their missions, offices of inspector general (OIGs) conduct and publish audits and investigations\u2014among other duties. Two major enactments\u2014the Inspector General Act of 1978 and its amendments of 1988 (codified at 5 U.S.C. Appendix)\u2014established federal IGs as permanent, nonpartisan, and independent offices in more than 70 federal agencies. \nOIGs serve to assist Congress in overseeing executive branch\u2014and a few legislative branch\u2014agencies. They provide recommendations and findings to their affiliated agency head and to Congress that may save the government millions of dollars per year. As a result, Congress may have an interest in ensuring that federal OIGs have the appropriate authorities and access to information they need to perform their investigations, audits, and evaluations. Concurrently, Congress has a responsibility to protect some records and information, such as national security information or information about an ongoing criminal investigation, from improper release. This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal OIGs and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices. \nCongress has a number of tools at its disposal to enhance OIG oversight, including through the introduction or passage of legislation, through formal letters to and from overseers, and through oversight hearings. Recent legislative initiatives have sought to enhance OIG oversight by creating new IGs (P.L. 114-113, 114th Congress; H.R. 302 and H.R. 3770, 113th Congress), expanding the authority of existing ones (P.L. 113-6, H.R. 314, 113th Congress), amending IGs\u2019 appointment structures (P.L. 113-126 \u00a7\u00a7401, 413), or increasing IGs\u2019 reporting requirements to Congress (H.R. 1211, 113th Congress; H.R. 658, 112th Congress). \nIn December 2015, Congress established a new agency-head-appointed IG to assist oversight of the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, an organization also referred to as AbilityOne. \nSome Members of Congress have recently focused on how IGs might leverage technology to assist congressional staff in their oversight of Congress. In December 2015, for example, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs examined IGs\u2019 required processes for audit and follow-up on their audit recommendations to their affiliated agencies. Some committee members suggested that the IG community establish a single, centralized database in which all open IG recommendations are collected. Officials from the IG community welcomed the idea, but expressed concerns about the costs and administration of such a database. On June 30, 2016, Senator Heidi Heitkamp introduced legislation that she said \u201cwould fill a gap ... I saw in federal management\u201d as a result of the hearing. The bill, S. 3109, would require federal IGs to publish online all recommendations that remain open after one year. The online list would be required to be updated at least every six months.\nStrengthening government oversight through IGs and ensuring proper access to agency records, among other issues, will likely continue to be of interest to Congress in the future.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43814", "sha1": "9f2ad4ddee97799c0768bc31d3ace194696db929", "filename": "files/20160720_R43814_9f2ad4ddee97799c0768bc31d3ace194696db929.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43814", "sha1": "c8b393d645313cc24a2b7a1bb8c1cb4abe072ccd", "filename": "files/20160720_R43814_c8b393d645313cc24a2b7a1bb8c1cb4abe072ccd.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 453568, "date": "2016-06-09", "retrieved": "2016-06-23T14:48:02.483246", "title": "Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions", "summary": "Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities. To execute their missions, offices of inspector general (OIGs) conduct and publish audits and investigations\u2014among other duties. Two major enactments\u2014the Inspector General Act of 1978 and its amendments of 1988 (codified at 5 U.S.C. Appendix)\u2014established federal IGs as permanent, nonpartisan, and independent offices in more than 70 federal agencies. \nOIGs serve to assist Congress in overseeing executive branch\u2014and a few legislative branch\u2014agencies. They provide recommendations and findings to their affiliated agency head and to Congress that may save the government millions of dollars per year. As a result, Congress may have an interest in ensuring that federal OIGs have the appropriate authorities and access to information they need to perform their investigations, audits, and evaluations. Concurrently, Congress has a responsibility to protect some records and information, such as national security information or information about an ongoing criminal investigation, from improper release. This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal OIGs and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices. \nCongress has a number of tools at its disposal to enhance OIG oversight, including through the introduction or passage of legislation, through formal letters to and from overseers, and through oversight hearings. Recent legislative initiatives have sought to enhance OIG oversight by creating new IGs (H.R. 302 and H.R. 3770, 113th Congress), expanding the authority of existing ones (P.L. 113-6, H.R. 314, 113th Congress), amending IGs\u2019 appointment structures (P.L. 113-126 \u00a7\u00a7401, 413), or increasing IGs\u2019 reporting requirements to Congress (H.R. 1211, 113th Congress; H.R. 658, 112th Congress). \nIn August 2014, 47 federal IGs wrote a letter to leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform indicating difficulties in acquiring records or other information from the agencies with which they are affiliated. The letter stated that certain agencies\u2019 unwillingness to provide requested information represents \u201cpotentially serious challenges to the authority of every Inspector General and our ability to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.\u201d The IGs asked Congress to provide \u201ca strong, generally applicable reaffirmation\u201d of Congress\u2019s intentions in the IG Act to require agencies to provide federal OIGs with access to all requested records and information.\nIn September 2014, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing at which the IGs from the allegedly unresponsive agencies testified, detailing difficulties in obtaining agency information. All Members at the hearing expressed concerns about the IGs\u2019 inability to access requested information.\nIn December 2015, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs examined IGs\u2019 required processes for audit and follow-up on their audit recommendations to their affiliated agencies. Some Members suggested the IG community establish a single, centralized database in which all open IG recommendations are collected. Members of the IG community welcomed the idea, but expressed concerns about costs and administration of such a database.\nStrengthening government oversight through IGs and ensuring proper access to agency records, among other issues, will likely continue to be of interest to Congress in the future.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43814", "sha1": "b2337313fb5356bfec559e6f310395927be46ae9", "filename": "files/20160609_R43814_b2337313fb5356bfec559e6f310395927be46ae9.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43814", "sha1": "665ce171cea1afac8502d7b96e039fa109ae2e8d", "filename": "files/20160609_R43814_665ce171cea1afac8502d7b96e039fa109ae2e8d.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc855733/", "id": "R43814_2016Jun02", "date": "2016-06-02", "retrieved": "2016-08-07T13:31:21", "title": "Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions", "summary": "This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal offices of inspector general (OIGs) and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices. Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities; to execute their missions, OIGs conduct and publish audits and investigations--among other duties.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20160602_R43814_01850c647c245b66cadabc614086b8b6b14fc6ab.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20160602_R43814_01850c647c245b66cadabc614086b8b6b14fc6ab.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government officials", "name": "Government officials" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Inspectors general", "name": "Inspectors general" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Politics and government", "name": "Politics and government" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Fraud", "name": "Fraud" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Governmental investigations", "name": "Governmental investigations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 436167, "date": "2014-12-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:51:11.720930", "title": "Federal Inspectors General: History, Characteristics, and Recent Congressional Actions", "summary": "Federal inspectors general (IGs) are authorized to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within their affiliated federal entities. To execute their missions, offices of inspector general (OIGs) conduct and publish audits and investigations\u2014among other duties. Two major enactments\u2014the Inspector General Act of 1978 and its amendments of 1988 (codified at 5 U.S.C. Appendix)\u2014established federal IGs as permanent, nonpartisan, and independent offices in more than 70 federal agencies. \nOIGs serve to assist Congress in overseeing executive branch\u2014and a few legislative branch\u2014agencies. They provide recommendations and findings to their affiliated agency head and to Congress that may save the government millions of dollars per year. As a result, Congress may have an interest in ensuring that federal OIGs have the appropriate authorities and access to information they need to perform their investigations, audits, and evaluations. Concurrently, Congress has a responsibility to protect some records and information, such as national security information or information about an ongoing criminal investigation, from improper release. This report provides background on the statutory creation of federal OIGs and provides historical context for contemporary debates about the strengths and limitations of the offices. \nCongress has a number of tools at its disposal to enhance OIG oversight, including through the introduction or passage of legislation, through formal letters to and from overseers, and through oversight hearings. Recent legislative initiatives have enhanced OIG oversight by creating new IGs (H.R. 302 and H.R. 3770, 113th Congress), expanding the authority of existing ones (P.L. 113-6, H.R. 314, 113th Congress), or increasing IGs\u2019 reporting requirements to Congress (H.R. 1211, 113th Congress; H.R. 658, 112th Congress) \nIn August 2014, 47 federal IGs wrote a letter to leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform indicating difficulties in acquiring records or other information from the agencies with which they are affiliated. The letter stated that certain agencies\u2019 unwillingness to provide requested information represents \u201cpotentially serious challenges to the authority of every Inspector General and our ability to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.\u201d The IGs asked Congress to provide \u201ca strong, generally applicable reaffirmation\u201d of Congress\u2019s intentions in the IG Act to require agencies to provide federal OIGs with access to all requested records and information.\nIn September 2014, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing at which the IGs from the allegedly unresponsive agencies testified, detailing difficulties in obtaining agency information. All Members at the hearing expressed concerns about the IGs\u2019 inability to access requested information.\nStrengthening government oversight through IGs and ensuring proper access to agency records, among other issues, will likely continue to be of interest to Congress in the future.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43814", "sha1": "05e50f1c3681a5a1f73d9d3e1bbcca3319fe7cc4", "filename": "files/20141208_R43814_05e50f1c3681a5a1f73d9d3e1bbcca3319fe7cc4.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43814", "sha1": "34759e7a3da91b08bedb78a9fae8bcba15b4e061", "filename": "files/20141208_R43814_34759e7a3da91b08bedb78a9fae8bcba15b4e061.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Economic Policy", "Foreign Affairs" ] }