Impact

In a series of investigations into Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, POGO revealed problems in the DHS watchdog office. Most recently, during a congressional hearing in June 2023, Cuffari admitted to deleting text messages from his government-issued phone. POGO followed up with an investigation reporting that the inspector general’s office learned in late 2022 that Cuffari had deleted the messages without following proper protocol. Despite legal requirements and his own staff’s recommendation that he inform the National Archives and Records Administration of the deletions, we reported, Cuffari did not do so. These revelations prompted two members of Congress to call on the president to remove Cuffari, something POGO has been urging for a while. 

Capitol Police officers on the ground risked their safety and lives to protect Congress on January 6, 2021, but it was clear that the department’s leadership was not prepared for an insurrection. It’s the job of the Capitol Police Office of Inspector General (IG) to investigate and report on why. But unlike most other IG offices, the Capitol Police IG did not regularly release its reports. In the summer of 2022, POGO’s investigators obtained and released one such report, revealing shortcomings in the department’s intelligence assessment before the insurrection. In early 2023, our policy team called on Congress to require more accountability from the Capitol Police IG, and we followed up in April with an investigation on whistleblower retaliation within the department. The following month, in May 2023, the U.S. Capitol Police Office of Inspector General announced that the office would start making its reports available, providing key information and demonstrating accountability to the public. 

A POGO investigation revealed that Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general tasked with overseeing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), suppressed reports on troubling findings about sexual misconduct and domestic violence within the agency’s ranks. Among other shocking information, POGO reported that more than 10,000 DHS employees said they’d experienced sexual misconduct. We also reported that after DHS components substantiated accusations of domestic violence against agents, in at least 30 cases returned government-issued firearms to those agents. POGO’s investigation prompted Secretary of Homeland Security Alexander Mayorkas to begin an immediate review of the department’s misconduct disciplinary processes. Two months later, he announced that the agency would be making “significant reforms.”   

Inspectors general are key to greater government transparency. Working inside of but independent from executive agencies, they inform Congress of waste, fraud, and abuses that harm the American people. However, many of these independent investigators serve at the pleasure of the president. They could be fired any time for basically any reason — we’ve seen presidents abuse this power in the past. And presidents could hold off appointing a new IG for as long as they liked: The Department of Defense recently went without a Senate-confirmed inspector general for nearly seven years. POGO has long worked with lawmakers to advocate for reforms to strengthen protection for these crucial watchdogs. In late 2022, we made important progress in that fight. Congress passed and the president signed a law that included provisions requiring the president to notify Congress before removing an inspector general, to provide “detailed and case-specific reasons” for the firing, and if the president fails to nominate a new inspector general within seven months to provide an explanation to Congress.