Lawmakers to Obama: Hire Some Watchdogs

By Louise Radnofsky

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing the White House to hire some inspectors general.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I., Conn.), Susan Collins (R., Maine), Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) and Rob Portman (R., Ohio,) and Reps. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), Elijah Cummings (D., Md.),John Tierney (D., Mass.) and Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) have signed a joint letter to PresidentBarack Obama expressing concern over the number of watchdog vacancies.

There are currently nine IG positions that are vacant, including at the departments of State, Labor, Justice, Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security. Jobs overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, intelligence community, Afghanistan reconstruction and Corporation for National and Community Service are also open.

“Many of these vacancies involve departments and agencies responsible for oversight of several of your Administration’s most important initiatives,” says the letter sent Tuesday.

“We have serious concerns that the lack of permanent Inspectors General at so many federal agencies is impeding the federal government’s efforts to increase efficiencies and prevent waste, fraud and abuse. With this concern in mind, we respectfully request that you move without delay to appoint qualified, experienced individuals to serve as Inspectors General,” the lawmakers say.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement “the Administration is committed to strong Inspector Generals, and we are working diligently to identify highly qualified candidates to fill these important posts.”

All of the posts except for the intelligence community one require Senate confirmation. Many of the previous holders of the positions have been controversial, which could be a reason why they’ve gone without permanent occupants for so long.

The State Department post has been open since January 2008, when Howard Krongardresigned amid accusations that he impeded a Justice Department probe of Blackwater Worldwide.

The White House fired the AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin, in June 2009, for what it said was inappropriate conduct. Many lawmakers raised concerns about the dismissal, and some alleged that Mr. Walpin was retaliated against for probing into an Obama administration supporter’s handling of federal grants. He lost an unfair dismissal lawsuit this year.

Most of the other vacancies are more recent. The intelligence community position was created last year and should have started in October. The HUD inspector-general left for the private sector the same month.

Arnold Fields, inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction announced his resignation in January 2011 after months of criticism that he wasn’t up to the task. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP, sent in his letter of resignation in February and had his last day on the job in March 2011. The Homeland Security inspector general retired the same month.