Why are inspectors general coming under attack?

[edward]

This was in my local paper. I had to dig a bit to come up with a link to the info. It seems to me that this should be front page news. These guys were apparently finding a bit too much waste and corruption in government agencies.

According to my local paper's version of the story there has been no inspector general for the pentagon for over a year.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The inspectors general entrusted to unearth waste, fraud and abuse in federal agencies are increasingly under attack, as top government officials they scrutinize try to erode the watchdogs' independence and authority.

During 2006, several inspectors general felt the wrath of government bosses or their supporters in Congress after investigations cited agencies for poor performance, excessive spending or wasted money.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WATCHDOGS_UNDER_FIRE?SITE=MTBIL&SECTION=TOP_STORIES&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

[Gokul43201]

See if you find this story in the front page news: http://www.cq.com/public/20061103approps.html

Last month’s mass firing of House Appropriations Committee investigators followed years of declining appetite for tough oversight and partisan squabbles that the investigators say often stalled their work.

Several members of the team, some of whom spoke on the condition that they not be identified by name, defend their record against committee spokesman John Scofield’s charge that recent work was not good. They suggest instead that majority Republicans had no appetite for oversight of the Bush administration.

The investigators said they identified billions of dollars in potential savings every year, particularly in the Defense budget, and that they heard no complaints until Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., dismissed 60 contractors on Oct. 16.

That's about as many as there were! Lewis quite simply dissolved the entire oversight team.

This, of course, is the same Jerry Lewis who is currently under investigation by the Justice Dept (see his wiki).

 

[edward]

See if you find this story in the front page news: http://www.cq.com/public/20061103approps.html

That's about as many as there were! Lewis quite simply dissolved the entire oversight team.

This, of course, is the same Jerry Lewis who is currently under investigation by the Justice Dept (see his wiki).

Great link. It applied to the appropriations committe. This is the type of thing that is going on with all government agencies. There are a lot of smaller agencies that are headed by high roller political appointees and they also are trying to get rid of oversite.

Legal Services Corp. Inspector General Kirt West rankled top managers of the federal legal aid program for the poor when he investigated lavish executive expenditures. The agency's board of directors discussed firing him in early 2006.

West "should know that he's got to ... shape up or we will ship him out," board vice chairman Lillian BeVier said, according to one meeting transcript.