President urged to retain inspectors general

President Bush should think twice about replacing any current inspectors general, a leading public policy expert said Monday. Agency inspectors general (IGs) technically serve at the pleasure of the President, but new administrations traditionally keep them around for continuity, according to Paul C. Light, vice president and director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution. "I would urge President Bush to be cautious of any removals," said Light. Light's 1993 book Monitoring Government focused on the role of inspectors general and accountability in the federal government. Most IGs decide when they want to leave, but the President can remove them at any time for political or personal improprieties. When President Reagan took office in 1981, he fired every agency IG, sparking a firestorm of controversy. Congress held hearings, and eventually a number of IGs were reinstated, said Light. "They [IGs] are really creatures of both Congress and the President. The notion that they would be fired and replaced in such a way really violates the spirit of the [1978 Inspector General] Act." The 1978 act established independent audit and investigative offices in agencies to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse in the government. IGs are supposed to be nonpartisan. They can be removed by the President, but the President must tell Congress why he removed them. President Clinton did not fire any inspectors general, but Valerie Lau, former IG at the Treasury Department, resigned in March 1998 after she was lambasted by Congress for awarding contracts without competitive bidding and for conducting a criminal investigation of two Secret Service agents in connection with the White House FBI files controversy, known as "Filegate." When the conflict is between IGs and agency heads, Light said most inspectors generally tend to "stick it out." He said the classic example involved Housing and Urban Development IG Susan Gaffney and former Clinton HUD Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo, who were at war with one another for most of Cuomo's term. Gaffney and Cuomo clashed bitterly over several policy initiatives, including the department's management reform plan and its Community Builders program. Gaffney filed a sexual discrimination complaint against Cuomo and other HUD officials last October, claiming that she was subjected to a hostile work environment at the agency for three years. "She may yet have the last laugh," said Light. "There was an extraordinary amount of conflict between Cuomo and Gaffney, and she has outlasted him, as she should have." A HUD official said Gaffney plans to stay at the department until she is asked to leave. The Office of Personnel Management does not keep tabs on the comings and goings of IGs governmentwide. But among those staying are IGs at the Departments of Treasury, Transportation, and the Office of Personnel Management. The IG position at the Defense Department is currently open. For the time being, Deputy Inspector General Robert J. Lieberman is in charge. Former deputy IG Donald Mancuso was appointed to the top job, but never received Senate confirmation. He retired in January. White House officials did not return calls regarding Bush's policy on inspectors general.