WP: Into the Oversight Void Step the Inspectors General [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

Into the Oversight Void Step the Inspectors General
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 12, 2006; Page A19


....Created by an act of Congress in 1978, "IGs," as they are known, can trace their roots to the Continental Army, which had an inspector general independently assess the readiness of combat troops. Their modern mission is to foster integrity and efficiency in government through the prevention and detection of waste, fraud and abuse.

Initially Congress created 12 independent audit and investigative offices, and every affected agency opposed them. Over the past 27 years, inspectors general have become a fixture of the bureaucracy. Their ranks have grown to 57 -- more than half appointed by the president -- and their offices employ 11,400 auditors, investigators, inspectors and other professionals.

The role of inspectors general has taken on new prominence, as one-party control of Capitol Hill and the White House has dampened the appetite in Congress for close oversight of the executive branch, analysts say.

"They are becoming the de facto overseers of government," said Paul C. Light, a professor of government at New York University and the author of a book on IGs. "As congressional oversight has declined sharply over the last decade, many IGs are getting into areas that were once reserved for the investigatory committees of Congress. And many, but not all of them, have risen to the challenge. . . . Some of these reports are very hard-hitting."...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011102066.html