The Senate must hold votes as soon as possible on pending nominations for inspectors general (IGs) within the executive branch according to a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and 18 other organizations dedicated to transparent and effective government, including Public Citizen, Project on Government Oversight, Protect Democracy and the National Federation of Federal Employees. 

At a time when public trust in government is low and President-elect Trump has signaled that his second term will be more corrupt than his first, nonpartisan IGs will play a critical role in holding the line against ethics abuses and ensuring the integrity of our government through independent oversight. For example, the Architect of the Capitol IG released a report in 2022 detailing then-Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton’s abuse of authority and misuse of taxpayer funds, leading President Biden to rightfully remove Blanton from his position.

Currently, there are ten vacant IG positions throughout the executive branch and in agencies that touch every aspect of American life. Five of these vacancies, including those at the Department of Treasury and National Security Agency, have a presidential nominee awaiting Senate confirmation.

Without their confirmation, the executive branch will lack the internal expertise it needs to detect and eliminate corruption, waste and malfeasance. With limited floor time, Leader Schumer and the Senate should consider including IG confirmations in their priority list, in order to shore up the federal government’s ethical guardrails and confirm these inspector general nominees without delay.

Read the letter here.

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