President Biden fired the Commerce Department’s acting inspector general Wednesday after an investigation tied him to ongoing fallout from allegations of whistleblower retaliation in the office. Roman Babakin / Getty Images
Biden to replace embattled acting Commerce IG
Jill Baisinger, current chief of staff in the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General, will take over for Roderick Anderson at the end of May.
President Biden on Wednesday informed lawmakers that he would replace the Commerce Department’s embattled acting inspector general, following a preliminary investigation of his role in a whistleblower retaliation scandal that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Government Executive has learned.
Per a source familiar with the matter, Biden's decision came after receiving the preliminary findings from a congressional investigation into allegations against Anderson and other leaders in the office. Acting Commerce Inspector General Roderick Anderson will be replaced by Jill Baisinger at the end of May. According to federal law, presidents must provide Congress 30 days’ notice prior to the removal or replacement of an inspector general.
Baisinger currently serves as chief of staff for the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General. Prior to joining that office as a senior counselor in 2020, she served as chief of staff for the State Department’s inspector general’s office.
Wednesday’s decision comes following a bipartisan request from lawmakers on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee to replace Anderson. The committee said it had conducted a 15-month investigation into allegations of whistleblower retaliation and other misconduct in the office, and found that Anderson—along with most of the office’s senior leadership team—were “entangled” in the allegations that led to then-Inspector General Peggy Gustafson’s abrupt resignation in January.
“The committee has reviewed credible evidence that some senior officials participated in alleged misconduct, other senior officials claimed to be the victims of it and some may have both furthered alleged misconduct and been subject to it themselves,” the lawmakers wrote in March. “The muddled nature of the situation reflects the dysfunctional professional environment within the DOC OIG during IG Gustafson’s tenure . . . Given the committee’s preliminary investigatory findings, we do not believe that any senior official within the Department of Commerce OIG is able to lead the office.”
A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office vehemently denied the allegations levied against Anderson earlier this year, touting recent improvement in its employee satisfaction metrics in the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. And last month, the office issued a statement suggesting he had been cleared of wrongdoing.
“The U.S. Office of Special Counsel conducted investigations into the allegations of whistleblower retaliation at Commerce OIG based on actions taken in 2021 and 2022,” the office stated. “Acting Inspector General Roderick Anderson has received notification from OSC that it closed its investigation with no further action. These are the same retaliation allegations that the House Science, Space and Technology Committee has been investigating. OSC is the government’s expert on retaliation, and the closure of these investigations without findings of wrongdoing by OIG officials is significant.”
Government Executive has reached out to the inspector general’s office for comment on Wednesday’s development.