User:Matthewdull/sandbox

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Here are sources
Johnson, C. A., & Newcomer, K. E. (2019). US Inspectors General: Truth Tellers in Turbulent Times. Brookings Institution Press.

Kempf, R. J. (2020). The power of accountability: Offices of inspector general at the state and local levels. University Press of Kansas.

Light, P. Charles. (1993). Monitoring government: Inspectors general and the search for accountability. Brookings Institution

Willhelm, B. (2023). Statutory Inspectors General in the Federal Government: A Primer. Congressional Research Service (R45450).

History Heading: from IG page

History[edit]
In the United States, other than in the military departments, the first Office of Inspector General was established by act of Congress in 1976 under the Department of Health and Human Services to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid, and more than 100 other departmental programs. With approximately 1,600 employees, the HHS-OIG performs audits, investigations, and evaluations to recommend policy for decision-makers and the public.

Ronald Reagan terminated 16 inspectors general when he entered into office in 1981. His administration explained that Reagan intended to hire his own selections. After Congress objected, Reagan rehired 5 of those terminated.

George H. W. Bush also attempted to dismiss all the inspectors general when he became president in 1989, but relented after the inspectors general and Congress objected.

Barack Obama dismissed Corporation for National and Community Service inspector general Gerald Walpin citing a lack of confidence in him. After Congress objected to his lack of explanation, the Obama administration cited that Walpin had shown "troubling and inappropriate conduct", and pointed to an incident that year when Walpin was "disoriented" during a board meeting of the Corporation, because of which the board requested Walpin's dismissal. Walpin sued for reinstatement, but the courts ruled against him.

In 2020, Donald Trump dismissed or replaced five inspectors general within six weeks. Two permanent inspectors general were dismissed and three acting inspectors general were replaced. Just after firing intelligence inspector general Michael Atkinson, Trump criticized Atkinson as having done a "terrible job" and that he "took a fake report and he brought it to Congress", in reference to the whistleblower complaint of the Trump–Ukraine scandal, which other testimony and evidence largely verified. Trump also described Atkinson as "not a big Trump fan". Around one month before Trump replaced Christi Grimm as acting health inspector general, he had called her report of shortages of medical supplies in American hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States as "wrong", "fake", and "her opinion", despite the report being based on a survey of 323 hospitals. Trump also questioned Grimm's motives for the report.