At Subcommittee Hearing, Democrats Highlight Importance of Maintaining Independence of Inspectors General

Washington, D.C. (July 25, 2024)—Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, led Subcommittee Democrats in examining the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and the importance of this independent watchdog.
  
“An important role of this Subcommittee is to see to the effective, efficient, and fair functioning of the executive branch.  The 74 Inspectors General across the federal government are central to that effort, which is why we have called this hearing today,” said Ranking Member Mfume in his opening statement.  “CIGIE was formed with the laudable goal of professionalizing the IG community so they can better address government-wide integrity, economy, and effectiveness issues.  They do so by training staff, proposing legislation, and recommending new inspectors general for vacant positions.  Perhaps most importantly, CIGIE holds IGs themselves accountable through the Integrity Committee.” 

The hearing included testimony from the Honorable Mark Lee Greenblatt, Chair of CIGIE and Inspector General of the Department of the Interior.

Subcommittee Democrats detailed how CIGIE is a vital resource for the IG community and Congress. 

• Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton described the importance of CIGIE, saying:  “Among CIGIE’s essential roles is development of quality standards for the fundamental skills of the IC [Integrity Committee] community.  For example, quality standards for investigations, for digital forensics, and for inspections and evaluations.”
   
• In response to a question from Rep. Rashida Tlaib about the benefits of the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE), Mr. Greenblatt said it can:  “look at everything from unemployment insurance to PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans, it is looking at federal employees who were receiving PPP loans even though they were gainfully employed with the federal government.”   
   
• In response to Rep. Tlaib’s question about expanding PACE, Mr. Greenblatt stated:  “That is the $64,000 question.  We would love to expand [PACE] and implement [PACE] government wide at CIGIE and then we can not only look at money that has gone out the door but look on a preventative basis and give information to the agencies.”  Mr. Greenblatt continued, “We would like to establish such a data hub to prevent those bad dollars from going out the door.” 
   
• In response to a question from Ranking Member Mfume about potential changes to CIGIE’s funding, Mr. Greenblatt said:  “In terms of funding the budget, a dedicated appropriation for investigators in the Integrity Committee would undoubtedly help and move things along faster, so that is one thing.  The other thing, that I think is sort of an emerging idea for us, is to tap into expiring, unobligated funds . . . if those expired funds could be routed to CIGIE, we could solve all of these problems quite quickly.”

Subcommittee Democrats emphasized that CIGIE must remain an independent watchdog of IGs to ensure they are effective and nonpartisan. 

• During his questioning, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly emphasized the importance of CIGIE’s investigative work stating:  “IGs have to be purer than driven snow . . . when we find wrongdoing, it ought to be investigated by CIGIE and be acted upon expeditiously so that we can restore credibility and integrity.  Second there is, you have to have independence, there can’t be retribution because you are doing your job.”  Rep. Gerald E. Connolly continued:  “When we talk about removing IGs, maybe there is a reason to do it, but there ought to be a really good one.  And it cannot be because you were doing your job.  If we do that in any Administration, we compromise the integrity of the IG.”     
   
• Rep. Summer Lee explained the importance of CIGIE’s Integrity Committee, saying: “CIGIE’s Integrity Committee serves as the much-needed watchdog of our federal watchdogs.  CIGIE conducts nonpartisan investigations into allegations of legal and ethical wrongdoing by IGs and high-ranking OIG officials.  They make recommendations for disciplinary action—up to recommending an IG’s removal—if their investigations substantiate allegations of misconduct.”