Report suggests merging IG offices to beef up resources
Some smaller agencies should consolidate their offices of inspector general with those of larger agencies to increase the overall effectiveness of the IGs, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office.
The 1978 Inspector General Act created independent audit and investigative offices in 12 federal agencies to end the practice of auditors reviewing the same programs they worked on. Currently, there are 57 inspectors general, 29 of whom are political appointees at the largest federal agencies. Twenty-eight agencies, including the Postal Service and the National Science Foundation, have the authority to appoint their own inspectors general.
In the report "Inspectors General: Office Consolidation and Related Issues"(02-575), GAO said IG authority could be strengthened by merging the smaller, agency-appointed offices into larger presidentially appointed IG offices, while giving presidential appointee status to a handful of IGs in agencies with large budgets.
"We believe that if properly structured and implemented, the conversion and consolidation of selected IG offices could serve to enhance the overall independence, economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the IG community," the report said.
Many agency appointed inspectors general have smaller budgets and staffs than their presidentially appointed counterparts, GAO found. Merging these smaller offices into the larger inspector general offices would result in better agency oversight, the report said. Agency appointed IG offices at larger agencies, including the Postal Service, could be given presidential appointee status. Smaller agencies that have an IG, such as Amtrak, could be shifted into the Transportation Department, for example.
A GAO survey of both groups of inspectors general drew mixed responses. The ability to issue hard-hitting reports, audit areas of high risk, review issues across agencies and draw attention to recommendations made by inspectors general would all be greatly improved under consolidation, presidentially appointed inspectors general told GAO. But agency appointed inspectors general were concerned about the ability to communicate daily with agency heads under the new structure, as well as the need for keeping an inspector general present in each agency.
Despite those concerns, GAO recommended that Congress consider amending the 1978 Inspector General Act to make inspectors general at the Postal Service, National Science Foundation and Federal Reserve Board subject to presidential appointment. GAO also suggested Congress consolidate agency appointed inspectors general offices with appropriate presidential inspectors general offices, and set up an IG council that can work closely with GAO on federal oversight issues.
The President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, which represents presidentially appointed IGs, agreed with GAO's findings. But the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency, which represents agency IGs disagreed with the report's findings.
"[Agency IGs] do not believe that the report shows that the inspector general structure created by the Inspector General Act and 1988 amendments is broken and in need of a 'fix' as complex and substantive as consolidation," executive council President Barry Snyder wrote in his response.