• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Independent Voter News
  • Campaign Finance
  • Civic Ed
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Events
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. inspector general>

15 federal watchdog roles remain vacant, hindering government function

Sara Swann
https://twitter.com/saramswann?lang=en
October 12, 2021
Joe Biden

President Biden recently announced nominees for three inspector general roles, but several government agencies still lack an independent watchdog.

Olivier Douliery/Getty Images

Inspectors general help make government function more efficiently and effectively, but more than a dozen of those independent watchdog offices lack permanent leadership.

President Biden announced last week his intent to nominate three people to fill some of the vacancies. One of the nominations is for inspector general of the Export-Import Bank, a position that has been vacant since June 27, 2014. At 2,664 days and counting, that is currently the longest-running vacancy for an IG role.

Some of these vacancies were created when former President Donald Trump fired or replaced six inspectors general in quick succession last year. Government ethics groups at the time said this unprecedented action undermined indepdendent federal oversight.


"A lack of permanent leadership poses an obstacle to IG offices' crucial oversight duties," Daniel Schuman, policy director for Demand Progress, wrote Tuesday in his weekly newsletter. He also noted that "the Biden Administration has been slow to fill the positions."

Among the 15 federal agencies that lack a permanent inspector general, a dozen require a presidential nomination and three can be filled through an appointment by the agency chief. Biden has put forth nominations for seven of the 12 vacant IG positions, but some of those nominations have been waiting for Senate confirmation since June.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Biden's most recent inspector general nominations have been Parisa Salehi for the Export-Import Bank, Brian Tomney for the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Ben Wagner for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The five federal agencies that have not yet received presidential nominations for inspector general are the Department of Defense, the Office of Personnel Management, the Treasury Department, the Federal Communications Commission and the State Department. These inspector general roles have been vacant for 515 days to 2,103 days.

In addition to filling these vacancies, government ethics groups also want Congress to strengthen the role inspectors general play in ensuring federal oversight and accountability. Earlier this month, 21 cross-partisan organizations sent a letter to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with recommendations on how to do so.

The groups support reforms that require the president to explain in detail why they decided to remove an inspector general and give Congress the opportunity to determine whether the removal was appropriate and warranted. They also support giving inspectors general the authority to issue subpoenas to help with testimony during investigations. And they support reforms that ensure inspectors general are held accountable themselves.

"As a coalition of organizations representing a diverse range of ideological viewpoints, we strongly encourage the committee to expeditiously advance legislation that ensures inspectors general are afforded the independence and authority necessary to do their jobs effectively and with the highest ethical standards," the groups wrote in their letter.

From Your Site Articles
  • Time for a cross-partisan push to prevent abuses of power - The ... ›
  • Tangible fixes abound for restoring the rule of law - The Fulcrum ›
  • Make it easier for watchdogs to work without interference - The ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Trump has pushed out 5 inspectors general since April ... - PolitiFact ›
  • Trump's firings of inspectors general, explained - Vox ›
  • More Than a Dozen IG Vacancies Await Nominees from Biden ... ›
inspector general

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow

Support Democracy Journalism; Join The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum daily platform is where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives. Now more than ever our democracy needs a trustworthy outlet

Contribute
Contributors

The conservative mind at 70

Michael Lucchese

Fulcrum Rewind: How to get along at Thanksgiving

Debilyn Molineaux
David L. Nevins

How reforming felony murder laws can reduce juvenile justice harms

Margaret Mikulski

What if neither party can govern?

John Opdycke

The case for the 4th, from a part-time American

Flora Roy

How to critique a Schedule F revival

C.Anne Long
latest News

The Voter Choice Act reintroduced in the Senate

Our Staff
4h

How America skimps on healthcare

Robert Pearl
4h

States need to define emergency

Kevin Frazier
24 November

More independent candidates needed

Dave Anderson
24 November

Virginia election: Do key issues trump scandal?

Anastasia Mason
24 November

Thanksgiving and three of the top four of Mount Rushmore

Amy Lockard
23 November
Videos
Who is the new House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson?

Who is the new House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson?

Our Staff
Video: Jordan bully tactics backfire, provoke threats and harassment of fellow Republicans

Video: Jordan bully tactics backfire, provoke threats and harassment of fellow Republicans

Our Staff
Video Rewind: Reflection on Indigenous Peoples' Day with Rev. F. Willis Johnson

Video Rewind: Reflection on Indigenous Peoples' Day with Rev. F. Willis Johnson

Our Staff
Video: The power of young voices

Video: The power of young voices

Our Staff
Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Video: Expert baffled by Trump contradicting legal team

Our Staff
Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Video: Do white leaders hinder black aspirations?

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Dr. F. Willis Johnson in a rich conversation with Patrick McNeal

Our Staff
14 November

Podcast: Better choices, better elections

Our Staff
23 October

Podcast: Are state legislators really accountable to their voters?

Our Staff
06 October

Podcast: What does it take to “do democracy?”

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
05 October
Recommended
The Voter Choice Act reintroduced in the Senate

The Voter Choice Act reintroduced in the Senate

Big Picture
How America skimps on healthcare

How America skimps on healthcare

Big Picture
The conservative mind at 70

The conservative mind at 70

Big Picture
States need to define emergency

States need to define emergency

Contributors
More independent candidates needed

More independent candidates needed

Contributors
Virginia election: Do key issues trump scandal?

Virginia election: Do key issues trump scandal?

Big Picture