House Passes Inspectors General Reform Bill

H.R. 928, the Improving Government Accountability Act, passed the House on Wednesday, October 3, by a vote of 404-11. The bill will give inspectors general (IGs) more autonomy with the agencies they oversee. The bill would set seven-year terms for the more than 60 IGs and would restrict the circumstances under which an inspector general could be fired. The legislation would give IGs greater budgetary independence and would create an independent council intended “to increase the professionalism and effectiveness” of those serving in the post.

A number of amendments were adopted on the House floor, including one that requires IGs to notify Congress if their budget requests are inadequate, balancing the need for IGs’ independence with the need for streamlined budget authority. Another amendment requires annual inspector general reports on program redundancy within federal agencies. Once again, the hope is that these provisions will help keep IGs independent, but will still require that Congress hold them accountable.

Although the bill passed by an overwhelming majority, the President has discussed a possible veto threat against the bill. The White House argued in a statement of administration policy that the bill would improperly diminish presidential control over budgets and interfere with presidents’ constitutional authority to remove inspectors general when warranted. However, the odds of holding to such a threat in the face of such overwhelming support for the bill is unlikely. When asked about the large amount of minority support, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) speculated that Republicans were “hard-pressed to vote against an effort to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.”

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) plans to combine S. 1723, her own IG reform bill, with legislation from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that seeks to increase oversight of federal contracting. The Senate hopes that the larger package will be up for markup sometime in November. However, as is the case with most pending legislation, the bill is subject to the frantic end of the year schedule that Congress works through.

Resources:
Kathleen Hunter, “House Passes Provisions for Enhanced Independence of Inspectors General,” CQ Today, October 3, 2007.
Author: SAS