House chairman compiling list of IGs' unused recommendations

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is gathering from federal inspectors general lists of their unimplemented recommendations under President Bush, information that will allow Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to step up monitoring of agencies and IGs.

Waxman wants the independent watchdogs by Thursday to provide reports detailing all their recommendations since Jan. 1, 2001, that their agencies did not accept. In letters sent Dec. 7, Waxman asked 63 federal IGs to summarize each unimplemented recommendation, estimate the cost savings and other benefits, and describe the investigation that prompted the recommendation.

The lists will give the committee a tool for its aggressive oversight of the Bush administration and help ensure inspectors general participate in that effort. "We want to see whether the IGs are doing their job and whether the agencies are doing theirs," Waxman, who recently forced the resignation of the State Department's inspector general, said Tuesday.

The committee's scrutiny of IGs' work is part of a broader congressional effort to step up oversight of IGs and alter their operational rules. A bill aimed at increasing IG independence, passed by the House, includes a provision intended to assure IGs have relevant experience. Many lawmakers have argued some IGs are unqualified. In a report last year, Waxman said IGs appointed under President Bush are less qualified and more likely to have political backgrounds than those appointed during the Clinton administration.

Inspector general offices operate within agencies but report to Congress. Their reports frequently contain lengthy lists of recommendations, which agencies have no legal obligation to adopt.

But the committee can use the lists to increase pressure on agencies. Asked if agency heads testifying before the committee can expect queries about IG recommendations they ignored, Waxman said, "That's why we sent the letter."

A committee spokeswoman said most inspector general offices have responded to the letter, though some will miss the deadline. The reports will resemble a report on unimplemented recommendations compiled by Health and Human Services Department Inspector General Daniel Levinson, who heads one the largest IG offices.

The committee has gathered the information quietly. Unlike much of the committee's communications, the Dec. 7 letter to IGs was not initially put online but was posted Tuesday.