CIGIE Legislative Priorities and Initiatives
If enacted, this full listing of legislative priorities and initiatives supported by the CIGIE’s Legislation Committee would strengthen government oversight and accountability, as well as prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in federal programs. CIGIE’s Letter to the 119 Congress provides additional information about CIGIE’s top 3 legislative priorities.
Top 3 Legislative Priorities for the 119th Congress
- Permanent Data Analytics Capability for the IG Community
- Establish a permanent, scalable data analytics platform for IGs and the agencies they oversee to help detect and prevent fraud and improper payments in all federal spending, including for emergencies.
- Unless Congress acts, one of the most significant tools that Congress helped create to improve program integrity and prevent fraud will be lost upon sunset on September 30, 2025: the data analytics center of CIGIE’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently estimated that expanding the PACE’s authority to allow it to be used for oversight of all federal programs “could result in a billion or more annually in financial benefits.” When the next natural disaster, financial emergency, or other crisis strikes, resulting in large-scale emergency relief funding to help those impacted by the crisis, the federal government could once again be without a cross-agency, cross-program analytics capacity to help prevent and detect improper payments and fraud.
- Prohibiting the Use of Appropriated Funds Government-wide to Deny IGs Full and Prompt Access
- Establish a government-wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds to deny an IG full and timely access to agency information
- Multiple IGs have been denied the access they need to provide robust oversight. On an ad hoc basis, Congress has effectively resolved such denials by including, within subcommittee appropriations acts, a prohibition on an agency’s use of appropriated funds to deny full and prompt IG access. CIGIE recommends a government-wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds to deny an IG access and a requirement of congressional notification when access is denied.
- Enhancing Oversight Independence and Efficiency by Providing Separate and Flexible OIG Funding
- Provide OIGs:
- (1) their own funding level, such as through a separate appropriation sub account, separate line item, or by specifying an amount “no less than” and
- (2) funding that is flexible, such as two-year, multi-year, or no-year funding, as appropriate.
- Through the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-409), Congress recognized that OIGs benefit from greater budgetary independence from their agency. CIGIE supports certain revisions to OIG funding that would help safeguard the oversight independence of OIGs, ensure effective management of OIG resources, and protect against budget cuts by agencies. CIGIE supports certain revisions to OIG funding that would help safeguard the oversight independence of OIGs, ensure effective management of OIG resources, and protect against budget cuts by agencies.
- Provide OIGs:
Supporting Independent Oversight
- Prohibiting the Use of Appropriated Funds Government-wide to Deny IGs Full and Prompt Access
- Establish a government-wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds to deny an IG full and timely access to agency information
- Multiple IGs have been denied the access they need to provide robust oversight. On an ad hoc basis, Congress has effectively resolved such denials by including, within subcommittee appropriations acts, a prohibition on an agency’s use of appropriated funds to deny full and prompt IG access. CIGIE recommends a government-wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds to deny an IG access and a requirement of congressional notification when access is denied.
- Enhancing Oversight Independence and Efficiency by Providing Separate and Flexible OIG Funding
- Provide OIGs:
- (1) their own funding level, such as through a separate appropriation sub account, separate line item, or by specifying an amount “no less than” and
- (2) funding that is flexible, such as two-year, multi-year, or no-year funding, as appropriate.
- Through the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-409), Congress recognized that OIGs benefit from greater budgetary independence from their agency. CIGIE supports certain revisions to OIG funding that would help safeguard the oversight independence of OIGs, ensure effective management of OIG resources, and protect against budget cuts by agencies. CIGIE supports certain revisions to OIG funding that would help safeguard the oversight independence of OIGs, ensure effective management of OIG resources, and protect against budget cuts by agencies.
- Provide OIGs:
- Testimonial Subpoena Authority (TSA)
- Authorize IGs to subpoena the attendance and testimony of certain witnesses as necessary in the performance of the functions of the IG Act, the National Security Act, and the Central Intelligence Agency Act.
- OIG oversight can be substantially hampered by the inability to compel the testimony of witnesses who have information that cannot be obtained by other means. For example, in cases involving a federal employee, that employee’s resignation can substantially hamper an audit, investigation, or other review into matters within the scope of that individual’s former responsibilities. Since Congress granted this authority to the PRAC and DOD and HHS OIGs, it has been used judiciously and sparingly. The HHS OIG also has testimonial subpoena power in certain circumstances.
- Seeking Parity with the IG Act – Congressional Notification When Legislative Branch IGs are Placed on Non-Duty Status
- Change current law to require congressional notification when a Legislative Branch IG is placed on non-duty status
- While congressional notification when an IG is placed on non-duty status was passed in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, and the GAO Inspector General Parity Act (Public Law No. 118-131) ensured the same provisions for GAO OIG, it did not apply to other Legislative Branch IGs. Amending the authorizing statutes of Library of Congress, Architect of the Capitol, Government Publishing Office, and U.S. Capitol Police will bring these Legislative Branch IGs into parity with the IG community.
Preventing and Fighting Fraud
- Permanent Data Analytics Capability for the IG Community
- Establish a permanent, scalable data analytics platform for IGs and the agencies they oversee to help detect and prevent fraud and improper payments in all federal spending, including for emergencies.
- Unless Congress acts, one of the most significant tools that Congress helped create to improve program integrity and prevent fraud will be lost upon sunset on September 30, 2025: the data analytics center of CIGIE’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently estimated that expanding the PACE’s authority to allow it to be used for oversight of all federal programs “could result in a billion or more annually in financial benefits.” When the next natural disaster, financial emergency, or other crisis strikes, resulting in large-scale emergency relief funding to help those impacted by the crisis, the federal government could once again be without a cross-agency, cross-program analytics capacity to help prevent and detect improper payments and fraud.
- Statutory Exclusion for Felony Fraud Convicts to Protect Federal Funds
- Make exclusion actions automatic for those convicted of violating certain felony fraud statutes involving any agency contract, grant, cooperative agreement, loan, or other financial assistance.
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Under current law, there is no mandatory exclusion for individuals convicted of, or who plead guilty to felony fraud against the government. Our analysis of 550 felony fraud convictions involving pandemic Federal program funds over a 3-year period found that more than 95% of those convicted were not suspended or debarred from doing business with the government. Applying a mandatory exclusion to a limited number of felony convictions involving government programs ensures that individuals already been provided due process for the underlying misconduct in the Federal criminal justice system for a question of integrity with respect to Federal programs are ineligible to receive Federal funds after their criminal activities involving Federal funds.
Promoting Integrity and Efficiency in Government Operations
- Establishing Authority for Inspectors General to Provide Continuous Oversight During a Lapse in Appropriations
- Give IGs authority to conduct oversight of agency operations that continue during lapses in appropriations (also known as government shutdowns).
- Many agencies are authorized to continue certain operations despite lapses in appropriations, either due to the continuing availability of multi-year or no-year appropriations or due to emergency exceptions for protection of life and property. Critical government activities, such as law enforcement operations and award of billions of dollars in contracts and grants, continue to operate without oversight, while OIGs are required to shut down. Amending the section of the IG Act with language authorizing OIGs to operate to the extent necessary as if the OIG were operating under a continuing resolution during a lapse in appropriations would allow OIGs to maintain oversight of agency operations that continue during a shutdown.
- Protecting Cybersecurity Vulnerability Information
- Amend the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) to support the protection of non-classified information technology cybersecurity reports or records from disclosure under the FOIA Exemption 3 to prevent the disclosure of information about agency IT systems, such as design, security protection mechanisms, unmitigated vulnerabilities, and infrastructure information that may be found in OIG reports.
- Bad actors are constantly searching public media sources for information that could be used to identify and exploit weaknesses in Federal Government IT systems. Legislative change is necessary because there is currently no explicit FOIA exemption that protects from disclosure the range and extent of cybersecurity and information security information that has the potential for misuse.
Indicates Top 3 Legislative Priority