Oversight

Federal watchdog launches probe into agency leadership that allegedly allowed widespread harassment to fester

Congressional committees and the agency itself is already conducting investigations into the alleged toxic workplace.

Oversight

Judge tosses IG’s lawsuit alleging harassment by oversight body investigating him

A watchdog of watchdogs is acting appropriately by investigating the inspector general, court rules.

Management

FBI’s new headquarters plan was not influenced by the Trump White House, watchdog says

An inspector general report four years in the making found that FBI officials nixed a plan to move its headquarters to suburban Washington, D.C., for reasons not related to alleged political pressure from the Trump administration. 

Oversight

USPS says mail theft is getting worse, but its plans are so far incomplete and yielding few results

The mailing agency must flesh out its strategies to address rising crime rates, Postal Service watchdog says.

Management

National lab isn’t properly tracking sensitive and high-risk property, OIG says

A new report from the Energy Department’s inspector general found that Brookhaven National Laboratory hadn’t adequately classified crucial property, including “lasers, oscilloscopes, chemical /biological equipment … that accounted for approximately $183 million” in value. 

Workforce

OIG: Tech demand remains a talent challenge for the federal home loan agencies, but telework can help

A report spotlighting the potential risks of recruiting and retaining talent at the agencies overseeing federal home loans shows tight competition for tech talent.

Management

ICE officials didn’t accurately report how they disrupted transnational criminals, OIG says

Immigration officials didn’t know how many transnational criminal organizations they impacted over five years due to a data filing misstep, according to the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.

Management

FLRA’s contract management system lacked documents, OIG says

The agency that oversees labor-management relations for the federal government was missing key information from its acquisition files and previously “had no formal contract file management policy in place,” according to leadership.

Oversight

FDIC needs to sharpen its cyberthreat sharing with financial institutions, OIG says

Despite recent improvements, a watchdog report claims the agency still has more it can do to make threat-sharing policies more effective. 

Oversight

DEA has regularly hired applicants it flagged as lying on their polygraphs

The agency also faces allegations of nepotism in its lie detector testing and a watchdog is saying the issues require "immediate attention" from management.

Management

DHS inspector general pays $1.2M settlement to former deputy

Joseph Cuffari has faced widespread allegations of misconduct, though he denies any wrongdoing.

Oversight

‘These were not normal times’: A former watchdog reflects on COVID-19 oversight

Bob Westbrooks, who first joined the government in 1994, served as executive director of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee for over two years.

Oversight

‘Serious failures’ handling Jeffrey Epstein’s custody highlight the staffing crisis at federal prisons, watchdog says

The Justice Department IG blasted the Bureau of Prisons on many fronts in a new report and the bureau’s director concurred with all the recommendations. 

Oversight

Democrats: It's Time for the DHS Watchdog to Go

Two House lawmakers allege the inspector general violated the Federal Records Act when he deleted text messages on his government-issued phone.

Oversight

The DHS Watchdog Says He Deletes Texts. Lawmakers Want to Know If This Violates Records Preservation Laws.

Two lawmakers have also introduced a bill to increase transparency in the Homeland Security Inspector General office.

Workforce

Lawmakers Squabble Over DHS Staffing Levels, IG's Credibility

Republicans say Biden's border approach is causing employees' morale to tank, though Democrats say they are using faulty data.

Oversight

House Oversight Chief to Biden: It’s Time to Finally Nominate State, USAID and Treasury Watchdogs

Two of the positions have been vacant for more than 1,000 days, and the other has sat empty for over 850 days.

Oversight

Thousands of HUD Contractor Employees Need Better Whistleblower Protections, Watchdog Says

Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis warned of a possible “chilling effect” that could make the contractors hesitant to report wrongdoing.

Oversight

ATF Misclassified Jobs. A Senator Wants the Justice Department to Dig Deeper.

Citing concerns by the whistleblowers who triggered the investigation that found that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had systematically misclassified administrative jobs as law enforcement-related, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, asked the Justice Department to do a more thorough investigation.