INSPECTORS GENERAL OF UNITED STATES
Updated May 5 2008
In 1978 the Congress established an Inspector General program across the federal government to deal with crimes, misconduct, operations outside the law, failure of the agencies to act according to the law. Inspector General positions have been installed across governments for centuries, operating under different names, but essentially special investigators for the executive. That is generally how the Inspector General operations are designed in the United States.
The Inspector General act has been amended many times over the 30 year history of the program. It now operates in 64 major agencies in the Executive side of the government. It is specifically prohibited from operating in the legislative and judicial branches of the federal government. (There are unrelated Inspector General programs in many of the states, many cities and in many foreign governments, but all generally operate on the same principles.)
Almost any information of wrongdoing or requests from branches or departments of the federal government can invoke the Inspector General offices in various agencies. These positions are filled by Presidential Appointment and generally can be replaced by the President at any time. They have strong authority with subpoena authority and strong investigative powers. They investigate both civil and criminal matters, and forward appropriate cases to the Attorney General and the Department of Justice for prosecution, but can resolve non-criminal matters through disciplinary decisions under agency rules.
Copyright 2008 John T Isaacson
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