BE SMART ABOUT: Inspector Generals - What Do They Do and Why Are They At Risk?

BE SMART ABOUT is our unfortunate series highlighting people in power or important topics you need to stay informed about so you can share this knowledge and together we can Be Smart and Actively Dissent.  Today we discuss the Office of the Inspector General.  You will not find this information on cable news and rarely in print media.  Inspector Generals play a crucial role in our government and society and have enormous significance to our nation yet they are under attack without any outcry.

Let's take a look at the history of Inspector Generals and what roles they play.

Inspectors general are accountable to the taxpayers. They are supposed to detect and prevent waste, fraud and abuse — and thereby, hopefully, build back just a little trust in government. The institution is now more than 20 years old.

Every major federal agency and program has an inspector general, a nonpartisan, independent official whose staff investigates cases of wasteful spending, criminal activity, employee misconduct and plain bad management. These are watchdogs with real teeth.

[There are] 69 inspectors general who keep tabs on government activities in the executive and legislative branch.... auditing government programs, investigating things like food stamp fraud and generally making sure taxpayer dollars are being spent in the manner for which they are intended. It's an idea as old as the republic. George Washington had an inspector general....

In 1978, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which sent levels of trust in government plummeting, Congress established a system of inspectors general for civilian agencies. Some are appointed by the president, others by the heads of the agencies they watch over.  They're supposed to be independent...

Inspector generals are often alerted to fraud by government employees who see suspicious activities in their department.  Sometimes they initiate their own investigations.

The focus of Inspector Generals and the reason the program exists seems like something even Republicans would support.  However, the Trump White House has floated plans to fire all Inspector Generals and has sought to undermine their positions whenever possible including refusing to fill open positions and cutting their budgets.

Today nearly one-quarter of inspector general offices have either an acting director or no director at all, including the offices at the C.I.A., the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense and the Social Security Administration.

The inspectors’ offices are deeply affected by the current federal hiring freeze and would be further harmed by the administration’s proposed budget cuts. The budget takes specific aim at the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program... That office has gone after 96 bankers; at least 36 went to prison. In 2015 its investigators helped prosecute General Motors for covering up a defective ignition switch responsible for at least 15 deaths, securing a $900 million settlement. The administration wants to cut its budget in half, to $20 million; as a result it has stopped accepting applications to its foreclosure prevention program.

Inspector Generals have proven to cut down on government waste to directly save taxpayers significant money.  They are the means to create a more efficient government for our benefit.

...in 2015 alone, the [Inspector General] offices identified $26 billion in potential savings and recovered an additional $10 billion through criminal and civil cases. That’s a return of $14 for every dollar in the offices’ budgets.

Congress has demonstrated bipartisan willingness to step up for inspectors general in the past, and last year it expanded the types and scope of protection offered to government whistle-blowers. Now it needs to protect the watchdogs from an administration that wants to starve them.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/opinion/mr-trump-goes-after-the-inspectors.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126511407