Bills
| 3.23.22

Should Inspectors General Have More Power to Subpoena Contractors & Former Gov’t Employees for Investigations? (H.R. 4917)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 4917?

(Updated October 29, 2018)

This bill — known as the IG Subpoena Authority Act — would expand the subpoena authority of inspectors general (IGs) at some agencies. It’d also create a process for a panel of three IGs to approve specific uses of the subpoena authority, and for the Attorney General (AG) to disapprove such uses. IGs would be able to issue testimonial subpoenas for contractors, grant recipients, and former federal employees. To preserve the integrity of ongoing Dept. of Justice (DOJ) investigations, the AG would receive notice before subpoenas are issued.

Argument in favor

Inspectors General, commonly known as IGs, perform valuable oversight by investigating waste, fraud, and abuse and giving them expanded subpoena authority will make them more effective.

Argument opposed

Federal employees are already compelled to cooperate with IG investigations, so it’s not necessary for IGs to have additional subpoena authority that extends to contractors or former government workers.

Impact

Federal agencies; federal employees; federal contractors; federal grant recipients; former federal employees, contractors, and grant recipients; inspectors general; Department of Justice; and the Attorney General.

Cost of H.R. 4917

The CBO estimates that there would be no significant budgetary effects from implementing this bill, as the new subpoena authority probably would be used infrequently.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) introduced this bill to enhance IGs’ ability to investigate waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in federal agencies and departments:

“When an IRS official can simply walk into retirement or a government executive can simply resign and therefore no longer be subject to IG investigations, the American people get angry. This bill will help hold wrongdoers accountable and will give the Department of Justice the same types of tools that our Department of Defense currently has.”

Agency IGs have expressed their support for this bill. Michael Horowitz, DOJ’s IG, promised to use the subpoena power responsibly:

“We’re prepared to sit down and address any concerns about the use of [the subpoena authority and] make sure there’s effective oversight. We had talked about a 3-IG panel to make sure that existed, and that’s what was originally in the draft legislation that we worked with the committee on. We’re prepared to work and make sure this is used reasonably and appropriately. Frankly just having the authority I think will cause us to not need to use it.”

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) support this bill. POGO’s Executive Director, Danielle Brian, writes:

“POGO recognizes the crucial role of the Inspectors General (IGs) in rooting out agency waste, corruption, and mismanagement. We also recognize that while IGs were created to act as independent watchdogs, they sometimes lack the tools they need to conduct independent oversight; one such tool is the power to subpoena testimony from certain witnesses. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) has called for IGs to have testimonial subpoena authority for years, as has POGO. If passed, [this] bill will provide IGs the authority to subpoena the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses, and in doing so will close a loophole that has long plagued IGs as they try to gather crucial information. [Currently], if an IG opens an investigation and wants to question an agency employee as a key witness, all that employee has to do is resign from government service to become inaccessible to the IG, no matter how central their testimony may be to the investigation. The same is true for subcontractors or subgrantees who are suspected of defrauding the government—without a contractual tie to the agency, the IG is powerless to compel their testimony. [This] legislation would address this problem by allowing IGs to request case-by-case subpoena power from a panel of IGs, while giving the Attorney General the right to deny any approved subpoena. It is a commonsense solution to a problem that has persisted for too long.”

This bill passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by a unanimous voice vote with the support of one cosponsor, a Democrat.


Of Note: The Inspector General Act of 1978 established IGs to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness within Executive Branch departments and agencies. IGs’ role is to to make recommendations based on independent and objective audits and investigations of their agencies.

Federal employees are obligated to provide testimony and fully cooperate with IG audits, investigations, and other reviews. Multiple IGs have testified on issues and challenges in obtaining important information from former government employees, contractors, and grant recipients.

After the passage of the Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2016, testimonial subpoena power is one of five legislative priorities still outstanding. The IG Empowerment Act has had positive impact for IGs thus far, as Kathy Buller, Peace Corps IG, reports:

“While there is still some work to be done, I am pleased to report that the IG Empowerment Act has produced an appreciable, positive change both in increased access and ongoing progress towards a culture of openness and cooperation.”

The work of IGs has significant impact. In fiscal year 2017, IGs brought in a total of $26.3 billion in potential savings from audits. Compared to the IG community’s aggregate fiscal year 2016 budget of about $2.7 billion, these recoveries and potential savings represent about a $17 return on every dollar of taxpayer money invested into IGs’ work. Investigative work by IGs in 2017 also resulted in 4,894 successful criminal prosecutions, 1,580 successful civil actions, 6,448 suspensions and debarments, and 4,315 personnel actions.


Media:

Summary by Lorelei Yang

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / KHL49)