Government watchdogs testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and reported something unexpected: their jobs have gotten easier during the Trump era.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz told lawmakers on Wednesday that a years-long standoff over access to records has thawed thanks to legislation signed into law in the waning days of the Obama administration.
“The IG community’s ability to continue its important work was greatly enhanced by the passage of the IG Empowerment Act,” Horowitz testified. The legislation upended a DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo, issued in 2015, that had blocked IG access to certain records.
Inspectors General found themselves denied outright or provided long delayed access to information from department heads. Horowitz subsequently made frequent appearances before congressional committees, warning that lack of access to records was impeding oversight investigations into matters related to domestic surveillance and whistleblower retaliation.
Congress responded by passing the IG Empowerment Act, which clarified language in the original Inspectors General Act, and guaranteed unfettered access to relevant records requested by government watchdogs.
“At the DOJ OIG, we have not had any access issues since the enactment of this law,” Horowitz said on Wednesday. He added that when disputes arose in different departments, “IGs were able to quickly resolve those issues by pointing their respective agencies to the provisions in the IG Empowerment Act.”
Timeliness of releasing documents is still an issue for overseers, however. Horowitz knocked the Export-Import banks for slow-walking records related to a report his office was compiling.
“This foot-dragging by agency leadership delays IG work, thereby impacting our ability to identify issues, and is wholly unacceptable,” he testified.
Testifying alongside Horowitz were IGs from the Department of Homeland Security and the US Peace Corps.
Kathy Buller, with the Peace Corps, told the committee that IGs could still use more power. She asked Congress to consider giving watchdogs enhanced subpoena power to compel testimony from former federal employees, and contractors that may not be in direct relation with the government, but were suspected of defrauding agencies.
Another challenge facing the inspector general community cited by witnesses on Wednesday, was the lack of appointed overseers.
There are currently 14 vacant IG positions, including at the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Interior. The majority of those openings, 12, require a presidential nomination, and confirmation by the Senate.
