“We’re about the only people in our agencies who can directly engage with congressional staffers and committees without needing the agency’s permission to do so. It’s been said that we straddle a barbed-wire fence.”
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agency’s permission to do so,” says Lerner. “It’s been said that we straddle a barbed-wire fence.” IG offices have an investigative side, staffed by special agents and law enforcement officials who conduct criminal, civil and administrative investigations into violations of laws, rules or regulations. The offices promote economy and efficiency through audits and evaluations in which auditors, analysts, evaluators and attorneys look at policies, procedures and internal controls to see if they are working as they are supposed to and helping agencies accomplish their missions. “A lot of issues have had to be worked out in the 40-plus years we’ve been in existence, mostly to ensure IG independence,” Lerner explains. “Over time, the biggest challenges IGs have faced in doing their work revolve around these independence issues. There was a real learning curve both within the IG community and the agencies on how to thread that needle.” She tells us that today, “IGs have their own ability to hire and to enter into contracts. They have their own budgets and their own SES [Senior Executive Service] system, if necessary. They have their own legal counsel and also have clear statutory authority to look at agency records.” All IG offices issue a variety of written reports, including audit, investigative, and inspection and evaluation reports prepared in accordance with professional standards; semiannual reports to Congress and agency heads describing the IG’s work within the reporting period; and immediate correspondence to agency heads to disclose egregious and flagrant problems or abuses. The agency head is required to transmit this reporting, along with any comments he or she may have, to Congress within seven days. CIGIE has consolidated all public IG reports from its members in one place on its www.oversight.gov website. “We use audits, inspections and evaluations as tools to assess how programs are working out and where risks exist,” says Lerner. “The Government Accountability Office has issued a guide, referred to as the ‘Yellow Book,’ that sets the standards for
