Former IGs to Congress: Protect CIGIE’s Independence

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Dear Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Garcia:

We, the undersigned former federal inspectors general, write to oppose the Restoring Integrity and Efficiency to Inspector General Oversight Act of 2025. We served under Republican and Democratic administrations and have extensive firsthand experience leading oversight initiatives and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse of power within federal agencies. We appreciate Congress’s continued interest in ensuring that federal agencies operate with efficiency and in the public’s best interest. However, we believe this bill would have the opposite effect and would diminish the credibility, effectiveness, and public confidence upon which successful oversight depends.

The inspector general community has historically served as one of Congress’s most valuable independent partners and as a neutral source of information about agency management and operations. Inspectors general play a leading role in identifying waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, and they help agencies improve their performance and better steward taxpayer dollars. Their evidence-based investigations, audits, findings, and recommendations inform congressional oversight, legislation, appropriations decisions, and agency reforms. Congress established inspectors general because agencies are better served by neutral reviewers who can identify deficiencies and opportunities for improvement without political influence or institutional loyalty. That framework has served administrations of both parties well by protecting taxpayer dollars, strengthening government operations, and providing Congress with reliable, factual assessments of agency performance.

The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) serves to promote professional standards; coordinate government-wide oversight efforts; conduct peer reviews; and provide resources, training, and oversight through an institution whose mission is oversight itself. CIGIE’s functions have earned strong bipartisan support because they enhance the consistency, quality, and credibility of inspector general work throughout the federal government, work which Congress relies on to fulfill its oversight and legislative responsibilities.

However, the bill before Congress would fundamentally alter that framework. This is not to suggest that the current oversight system cannot be improved. Congress has amended the Inspector General Act at different times in response to changing circumstances and lessons learned. Reforms that strengthen inspector general independence, improve accountability, or increase transparency deserve careful consideration. But reforms should reinforce the structure that has made the inspector general community successful, not weaken it.

We fully support Congress’s efforts to strengthen government accountability and improve efficiency. However, those efforts are best achieved by reinforcing CIGIE’s current structure and preserving the independence of inspectors general, independence that Congress created specifically to provide objective oversight.

For these reasons, we respectfully urge Congress to reject the Restoring Integrity and Efficiency to Inspector General Oversight Act of 2025.