Tuesday, Jan.12, 2016
Grassley: Defense Department Watchdog Raises Independence Concerns Over Agency Response on 64,000 Foot Building in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is expressing concern that the Defense Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) may have compromised its independence by apparently reviewing and editing the agency’s response to an inquiry from another inspector general, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The issue is SIGAR’s review of $36 million spent on an unneeded 64,000 square foot building at Camp Leatherneck.
“It is entirely appropriate for the (Defense) Department to respond directly to SIGAR,” Grassley wrote to outgoing Defense Department Inspector General Jon Rymer. “However, I am concerned that the OIG gave the appearance of impropriety when it became directly involved in the editing process of the Department’s outgoing correspondence to SIGAR.
“It would have been more appropriate for the OIG to prepare a memo for either the Secretary or Deputy Secretary regarding the OIG position on the issues raised by SIGAR. That would have kept the OIG from becoming directly involved in the Department’s decision-making process. Instead, the OIG put itself in the position of taking ownership of the Department’s decisions. That raises questions about the OIG’s independence from the Department it oversees.”
Grassley noted his long-time fight to ensure independence for all inspectors general and requested an explanation for why the Defense Department Office of Inspector General participated in the internal review and editing process of the agency response to SIGAR, as well as a series of documents from the Defense Department Office of Inspector General that would explain the determination not to recommend charges of misconduct in the building debacle.
Grassley has long-standing concerns about the Defense Department Office of Inspector General’s lack of independence on audit matters. Last year, he helped to expose how a manager in that office overruled the relevant audit team in issuing a clean opinion on an audit of the Marine Corps. The lower level employees found the work papers did not support a clean opinion. The inspector general later was forced to withdraw the opinion.
Grassley’s latest letter is available here. The memo in question is available here.
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Federal Reserve Transparency Act deserves debate
The Senate voted today on whether to proceed to debate on the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015. Although a majority of 53-44 voted to proceed, the cloture vote fell short of the required 60 votes. The bill has 24 co-sponsors in the Senate, and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was among the original co-sponsors. The bill would require an audit of the Federal Reserve by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office. Grassley made the following comment on the bill.
“The Federal Reserve has an enormous amount of power over U.S. monetary policy. Fed policy greatly influences everything from the interest charged on a home loan, to the interest paid on a savings account, to the level of inflation in the economy. The Fed’s response to the Great Recession has caused the bank to bear increased risk in complicated and unprecedented ways. This resulted in its balance sheet’s ballooning to around $4.5 trillion from $850 billion prior to the recession. The American taxpayers deserve to understand the risks taken on by the Fed. Also, Congress needs to have a better understanding of the extraordinary actions the Fed has taken so it can conduct effective oversight.
“The public deserves insight into the Fed’s operations and decision-making. Our bill would offer oversight and transparency while also protecting the bank’s independence and authority to set monetary policy. It’s too bad the legislation didn’t move forward today, and I hope we have the chance to consider it again.”
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Sen. Chuck Grassley made the following comment on President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight.
“The way the President has down-played the terrorist threat has been alarming. The American people have the right to expect that the U.S. government will fulfill its number one responsibility of protecting the homeland. ISIS and its counterparts are a growing threat to our country that cannot be cast aside. Throughout our history, the United States was respected by our friends and feared by our enemies. Increasingly, neither seems to be the case. The President needs to focus on the safety of Americans and see the world the way it is, rather than the way he wishes it was.
“On the economy, the President offered soaring prose that sounds good but offers little in terms of real solutions. I’d rather have heard more on ways we can work together to increase middle class wages and grow the economy. We’ve had low gains in productivity that have led to stagnant wages. We have rising health care costs. We have a lot of people out of the workforce. I’m looking for specific ideas to increase job creation. What I hear from the other side of the aisle is more regulations and higher taxes. More regulations are counter-productive to economic growth. The Administration’s Waters of the U.S. regulation is a perfect example. Red tape from this regulation would require permits for any changes to the land in 97 percent of Iowa. That’s an astounding power grab.
“The marketplace, entrepreneurship and the American work ethic have made this country so successful. The Administration’s rhetoric on economic growth is at cross purposes with the regulations coming out of the executive branch. Also, rhetoric on working together rings hollow when the White House has used so much executive overreach on significant issues that bypasses the legislative branch and its elected representatives. The short-term partisan interests of the White House should not trump the constitutional principles laid out by the founding fathers.
“The Republican-led Congress will continue to fight for the economic growth that made America the envy of the world and will work to keep our country strong in the face of increasing dangers from those who want to destroy our way of life.”
Links to download audio and video of Senator Grassley’s reaction to the President’s State of the Union Address can be found here:
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130.11 MB
ICYMI – Grassley’s written statement can be found here.-30-
