Inspectors General May Get More Power.

Congress is close to enacting the most significant boost in three decades in the independence of the cadre of government watchdogs -- federal inspectors general -- but the lawmakers have retreated from a key change involving the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Senate on April 23 approved, by unanimous consent, S. 2324, the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008. But the bill passed only after the lawmakers agreed to an amendment by Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., which, among other items, deleted a provision giving the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) jurisdiction to investigate misconduct allegations against department attorneys, including its most senior officials.

Unlike all other OIGs who can investigate misconduct within their entire agency, Justice's OIG must refer allegations against department attorneys to the department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). The latter office, unlike the OIG, is not statutorily independent and reports directly to the attorney general and the deputy attorney general.

The House last October passed a substantially similar bill -- H.R. 928 -- by a vote of 404-11. The House bill, sponsored by Representative James Cooper, D-Tenn., eliminates the requirement that Justice's OIG refer attorney misconduct allegations to OPR.

Both bills normally would be referred now to a joint House-Senate conference committee to resolve the differences. But congressional sources say there will be no formal conference. Given the political climate on Capitol Hill, they explain, the House is likely to vote on the Senate bill as the most politically expedient way to get the proposed reforms to the president's desk.
President Bush had threatened to veto the House bill for a variety of reasons. The Kyl amendment to the Senate bill was seen by many as a vehicle for the White House's objections.

"The Kyl amendment took out a lot of the substance of the bill, but it didn't kill the bill," said Cooper, a Harvard Law graduate who has pressed legislation for years to strengthen the independence and accountability of inspectors general.

"I think we should lock in these improvements and leave to a future Congress further improvements."

Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit, good-government group that has worked to improve the inspector general system, agreed with Cooper.

The DOJ issue, she said, is a "lingering problem that has got to be addressed." There is a "clear conflict, a real problem," with OPR investigating allegations against the very officials to whom it reports, she said.

That conflict emerged dramatically when former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales directed OPR to investigate the firings of certain U.S. attorneys -- a matter involving the conduct of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general. Inspector General Glenn Fine objected and eventually his office and OPR agreed to a joint investigation.

"The whole bill was held up because of this issue," said Brian. "We hope the Justice Department problem is not forgotten now that the legislation is passing."

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Keep in mind that the Inspector General is investigating Gonzo in whether he committed perjury to the Senate committee. If the bill allows the IG more power and independence to investigate misconduct in Gonzo's manner and other cases that deal with misconducts and crimes of high level officials in the White House, this will be another another nail in the Adminstration, Special Counsel, or criminal charges arising.