{"id":26139,"date":"2023-06-06T20:52:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T20:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/06\/06\/congress-urges-biden-to-fill-inspector-general-vacancies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:02:05","slug":"congress-urges-biden-to-fill-inspector-general-vacancies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2023\/06\/06\/congress-urges-biden-to-fill-inspector-general-vacancies\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress urges Biden to fill inspector general vacancies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

About 14% of federal entities are lacking a fully confirmed inspector general,<\/a> leaving a critical hole in oversight that Congress says the Biden administration needs to address with nominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government watchdogs have been missing from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for nearly three years. There are roughly 75 statutory inspector general positions authorized for cabinet-level agencies and smaller federal boards, like the Tennessee Valley Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter<\/a> to the White House on Monday, saying Congress is particularly concerned by vacancies at State and USAID \u201cat a time when [these agencies] are engaged in sensitive matters impacting U.S. national security interests around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, there are 10 current acting inspectors general performing the duties of the office. Having an acting official serve the position of inspector general is not longterm tenable solution, as Senate-confirmed leaders go through an extensive vetting process that \u201chelps instill confidence among Congress, agency officials, whistleblowers, and the public,\u201d the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight reported<\/a> in 2018. Temporary leadership also inhibits the ability of the inspector general office to commit to longterm plans, POGO said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt a minimum, leaving in place acting IGs for prolonged periods of time sends a message to the American people that oversight and accountability is not a priority for the Biden Administration,\u201d Comer\u2019s letter reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest inspector general to be confirmed was Robert Storch, <\/a>who assumed the position at the Department of Defense in December 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bar to become an inspector general is high; the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency keeps an internal list<\/a> of resumes, both received and solicited by the council, and provides them to the White House as part of the vetting process. Though the position is apolitical, inspectors general have been thrust into partisan debates based on expectations by some they they should be more disciplinary than purely investigative.<\/p>\n\n\n\t