A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday launched the Inspector General Caucus, shortly before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump who fired five inspectors general over a span of six weeks in 2020 during his first term.
Members of the new caucus said their goal is to support the oversight officials who identify waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.
“Their work has been invaluable in my decade-long mission to uncover waste and make Washington squeal,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, in a statement. “I look forward to this caucus continuing to allow IGs to do tremendous work and find more ways to downsize government and eliminate inefficiencies.”
Her statement about IGs is markedly different from one made by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., at a Dec. 10 hearing.
“This committee has jurisdiction over the inspector general. I have found there are good inspector generals, there are average IGs and there are poor IGs,” he said. “We’re trying to work with the new administration on identifying which is which, so we need the IGs to work with us because finally this town is fixing to get serious about being more efficient.”
Ernst also chairs the Senate caucus that will work with the advisory Department of Government Efficiency, which will be led by businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump has tasked DOGE with cutting federal spending and regulations.
IGs in fiscal 2023 identified approximately $93.1 billion in potential governmental savings.
“The federal IG community looks forward to working with the bipartisan IG caucus and congressional leaders to enhance efforts to detect and prevent waste, fraud and abuse, improve government efficiency and deliver for the American public,” said Hannibal “Mike” Ware in a statement. He is the chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, IG for the Small Business Administration and acting IG for the Social Security Administration.
The IGs for the Intelligence Community and CIA recently left their positions before the start of Trump’s second term.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a member of the IG caucus, in November requested that the watchdog offices provide information about how much money they’ve spent to settle sexual harassment complaints against IG employees.
There are currently 15 IG vacancies, including at the Treasury Department where the position has been unfilled for more than five years.
