WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and watchdog of the federal bureaucracy, is working to ensure that inspectors general, the public’s eyes and ears for rooting out waste, fraud and abuse within the executive branch, have access to all necessary documents to conduct an investigation.
“Inspectors general are critical to good governance and the rule of law, but in order for them to do their jobs, they need independent access to information,” Grassley said. “Agencies denying access to necessary documents is unacceptable. It undermines Congress’ intent and the rule of law, and it makes a mockery of government transparency. And, if we learned anything in the last year, it’s that government can use more transparency, not less.”
Grassley today requested to bring up his legislation, the Inspector General Empowerment Act, to clarify once and for all that inspectors general are to receive all documents necessary to do the jobs Congress requires them to do. Grassley and the authors of the bill made tweaks to incorporate various ideas of other members, but the crux of the bill-ensuring access to documents for inspectors general-remains the same. His request to pass the bill by unanimous consent was blocked by another member.
The fix was needed after more and more federal agencies began refusing to allow inspectors general to review all of their records, in direct contradiction of the Inspector General Act of 1978 which created inspectors general as independent and objective units within the executive branch. The law authorizes inspectors general access to all records belonging to their respective agency so they can thoroughly investigate how the government operates. This access has helped these watchdogs identify many significant cases of excessive spending and misconduct over the years.
There are consequences when agencies deny important documents to inspectors general. For example an important investigation at the Peace Corps was stalled into the agency’s handling of sexual assault reports by its volunteers.
