Challenges to the Independence of Inspectors General in Robust Congressional Oversight

Congressional oversight of the Executive is among the chief responsibilities of the legislative branch. Inspectors General ( IGs ) are among the most important tools available to Congress because they are hard-wired into the Executive itself. The value of IGs to Congress depends on their expertise in the workings of their host agencies and their independence from those agencies. But independence is not a statutorily defined term. As the agencies, and sometimes Congress itself, expand the role of IGs to engage in activities that parallel the regulatory programs of their host agencies, IG independence is compromised and the value IGs provide to Congress can be undermined. This article seeks to further a project of scholarship on IGsfocusing on the statutory framework within which they operate and the conflicting imperatives that affect their work