Fewer Watchdogs, Fewer Reports, and a Bill to Kill the Council
Updated: 5 days ago
You cannot audit what nobody is auditing.
August 11, 2026
Cabinet-level OIG workforces are down an average of 19% since December 2024, investigative reports are down 25%, and a new House bill would disband CIGIE outright and hand its functions to OMB.
Two items from the oversight lane, and they point the same direction.
On 22 July 2026, Rep. Clay Higgins introduced H.R. 9725, the Restoring Integrity and Efficiency to Inspector General Oversight Act, which would disband the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency one year after enactment. CIGIE’s functions would be split among OMB, GAO, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Supporters point to a GAO finding that CIGIE routinely failed to follow its own procedures when investigating misconduct allegations against IGs — dismissing complaints as "frivolous" without the required legal review. POGO’s objection is the obvious one: moving IG oversight into OMB creates an unavoidable conflict, because IGs sometimes investigate OMB.
On 29 July 2026, a Partnership for Public Service analysis found Cabinet-level OIG workforces down an average of 19% since December 2024, audits down 6%, and investigative reports down 25% in the first half of FY2026 against the FY2020–2024 average. Nearly twenty inspectors general have been removed since January 2025. The FY2027 budget proposes further cuts.
We spend a great deal of our time filing with, appealing to, and waiting on inspectors general.
There are fewer of them now, and they are producing less. That is not a reform. That is a subtraction.
SOURCE LINKS
● Government Executive on H.R. 9725 (22 Jul 2026) — https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2026/07/inspector-general-group-would-be-axed-under-new-house-gop-bill/414923/
● Government Executive on the Partnership analysis (29 Jul 2026) — https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2026/07/inspectors-general-are-conducting-fewer-oversight-reports-after-18-months-upheaval/415098/
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