Given their background, it’s hardly surprising that most
Bush inspectors general are not exactly probing deep for problems. Krongrad and
Bowen (who, it should be noted, was Bush’s legal advisor during his
governorship) are not even the most extreme cases. Janet Rehnquist, daughter of
the former Supreme Court Chief Justice, wreaked major havoc as IG of the
Department of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2003.
According to a story
by the Associated Press, she delayed an audit of Florida’s pension fund after then-governor
Jeb Bush asked her to, and nearly all the deputy inspectors general in HHS left
under her watch.
At NASA, IG Robert Cobb, whose previous work experience
includes a stint as associate counsel to the president, faced an investigation
by the FBI and the presidential oversight office for allegedly retaliating
against whistleblowers and shutting down some of his department’s most crucial
investigations. In their final report, the investigators concluded Cobb had
informed agency officials about internal investigations and shut down reports
that might have hurt NASA. The investigation also found Cobb was so chummy with
NASA head Sean O'Keefe that they’d meet
regularly for private lunches and play golf together. Still, Cobb remains on
the job. (Inspectors General at the Commerce Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency also have faced investigations of possible misconduct.)
Over at the Pentagon, the Department of Defense’s former
Inspector General, Joseph Schmitz (who, again, had no auditing background) has
earned a monster of a rap sheet: He allegedly stonewalled Congress when it
demanded information on whether Schmitz had stopped criminal investigations; he
played down complaints about Halliburton’s overcharging for government
contracts; and he essentially suggested that Abu Ghraib wasn’t a big deal.
Shortly after Republican Senator Charles Grassley announced that he’d launch an
investigation into this behavior, Schmitz resigned--and took a job with
Blackwater’s parent company.
When Inspectors General do take their job seriously, though,
they get punished for it. The CIA’s Inspector General, John Helgerson, has
gained a reputation for doling out tough, unwelcome criticism. In particular,
in 2004, he warned that the Agency’s detention policies might “constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.” So it’s no surprise that his office is the now the subject of a
CIA probe. According to The
New York Times, “The inquiry
was ordered by the C.I.A. director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, in
response to complaints about aggressive investigations by Mr. Helgerson’s
office into the agency’s counterterrorism programs.” (Partly because of the
Helgerson fiasco, the House recently passed legislation designed to make
Inspectors General more independent.)
The lack of real inspectors general has serious consequences.
At their best, tough investigations put fear into contractors and employees,
making waste and fraud less likely. They also provide vital information to
Congress and the press. Just imagine if we’d had a better understanding of how
decisions were being made when Iraqi reconstruction contracts were first being
divvied out, say, or if we knew how badly managed FEMA was before September
2005. And imagine if the people whose job it was to investigate the most
important government agencies were sharp-eyed and diligent, and not the
beneficiaries of nepotism or political back-scratching. In case you’re
wondering, there are just thirteen more shopping months left until the next
inauguration.