On June 17, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduce introduced legislation aimed at protecting inspectors general. The Washington Post published an Op-Ed by Sen. Grassley in which he discusses the purpose of the bill.
According to Sen. Grassley, the bill will be bipartisan and “clear up any ambiguity about Congress’s expectations when presidents decide to fire inspectors general.” It will also include provisions for conflicts of interest “that could arise by temporarily replacing inspectors general with political appointees.” Grassley writes that this bill builds on the 2008 Inspector General Reform Act, which seemed like a big step for protecting inspectors general but proved to be less effective than intended. In particular, Grassley details how the grounds for removing inspectors general have in the past two administrations been vague and resulted in dismissals with unspecified reasonings.
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