WASHINGTON DC (August 21, 2019) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley is pressing the internal watchdog arm of the Department of Commerce regarding recent staff departures, low morale, and falling productivity after hearing from nearly a dozen whistleblowers.
“As you are aware, whistleblowers are pivotal to identifying waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal government and are necessary to the work of an Inspector General. As such, you can imagine my concern when I began receiving these reports from within your office,” Sen Grassley wrote. “Those who have stepped forward have unanimously cited low office morale and lack of leadership as reasons for leaving or thinking of leaving their positions.”
Recently, a government-conducted survey showed that the Department of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) had some of the lowest levels of employee-satisfaction in the federal government and indicated a consistent, year-over-year decline the past several years. Additionally, the OIG’s most recent semiannual reports to Congress show declining levels of productivity.
In his letter, Sen Grassley requested information on the organization's structure, employment statistics, budget requests, documents regarding human-resources challenges, and information about recent corrective action and steps taken to improve the problems.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
