For all of President Trump’s focus on cleaning up the federal government, nearly a dozen departments and offices are still operating without a permanent watchdog, and at least one is operating without even a temporary placeholder.
Eleven federal agencies currently have acting inspectors general, and one — the Federal Election Commission — does not have any watchdog in place, according to the Council on Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. Trump has not nominated a single inspector general since taking office and has, in fact, withdrawn his predecessor’s four pending inspector general nominees, although it is customary for incoming administrations to withdraw.
Inspectors general are supposed to operate independently of the agencies they oversee. Their offices exist to investigate waste, fraud and abuse within the government, and to identify areas where programs overlap or more resources are needed.
But temporary watchdogs often lack the independence of a Senate-confirmed inspector general, said Elizabeth Hempowicz, policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight.
“Oftentimes these acting IGs are gunning for that permanent position,” Hempowicz said.
“They’re not in a position to be independent from that agency if they’re hoping to get that agency’s approval on their potential nomination.”
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Several of his Cabinet agencies — including the Department of Energy and the Interior Department — do not have permanent watchdogs. The intelligence community is also operating without internal oversight: the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all lack a Senate-confirmed inspector general.
Trump allies blame Senate Democrats for blocking what should be routine confirmations. However, in many cases, the administration has not yet put forward a name for Democrats to block.
Hempowicz said the Trump administration is not taking advantage of “mechanisms that already exist” to accomplish its stated goals of ending wasteful spending and ridding the federal workforce of low-performing or unnecessary employees.
Inspectors general regularly uncover inefficient spending and unethical practices at the agencies they oversee.
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Trump has 12 inspector general vacancies to fill. That's important bc 12 federal agencies have no oversight: https://t.co/9tkyR4qf8v
— Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) May 1, 2017
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