How long does it
take to investigate an inspector general? A
long time
Relatively speaking,
federal inspectors general are not accused of wrongdoing that often,
and a small number of complaints against them results in full-blown
investigations. But since these public servants are high-ranking watchdogs over
spending, mismanagement and corruption in government, a swift resolution
in a case against them is viewed by many as a good thing.
In the last fiscal year, though, it took
the government 281 days on average to resolve a case against an inspector
general. That’s 9.3 months. And according to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa),
it’s way too long.
Grassley, a longtime advocate for the
work of federal watchdogs, has beenirked by what he calls
foot-dragging by the obscure panel of inspectors general charged with
conducting probes when their peers are accused of misconduct. In September
Grassley asked the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency for statistics about its process. A month earlier, the veteran
inspector general for the National Archives, Paul Brachfeld, was forced to
retire after a probe of his conduct in office found that he made
insensitive comments about women and racial minorities.
The Brachfeld investigation took the
council two years to finish, leaving the historical records agency in the
hands of a caretaker watchdog, Brachfeld in an uncomfortable limbo and
taxpayers on the hook for his $186,000 salary, plus benefits, while
he stayed home. The Archives is
still without a permanent watchdog.
The council, known as CIGIE, meets just
four times a year. It has a small staff, mostly of part-timers from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, who are assigned to support investigations assigned
to inspectors general at a variety of agencies.
According to statistics the panel
released to Grassley last week, the average time investigations took in fiscal
2014 was 281 days and 182 days in fiscal 2013. It took 32 days for a referral
by an agency to the panel to even make it onto the docket last year, an
improvement from fiscal 2012, when it took 59 days.
Grassley said in a statement that the
protracted timetable “shows it’s time for reform,” and his staff is working on
drafting legislation in the next Congress to force the process to move faster.
“An inspector general might be sidelined
for months and even years while these cases are under review,” Grassley said.
“That’s not good for agency oversight. It’s not helpful for the taxpayers. I
intend to continue working on legislation to cut these delays so cases are
resolved in a reasonable amount of time.”
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