Inspectors General

This fact sheet provides information on federal inspectors general at various government agencies. Specifically, GAO discusses (1) inspector general appointments and related issues, (2) Department of Energy inspector general resources devoted to the audit of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission activities, and (3) agency and inspector general resources and staff in the 34 entities with inspectors general appointed by the head of the agency.

GAO found that: (1) federal legislation provided for the creation of IG offices in federal agencies; (2) 26 IG were appointed by the President and 34 by agency heads; (3) all IG had essentially the same powers and duties; (4) in general, IG reported to and were under the general supervision of the agencies' heads, and were not to report to or were subject to supervision by any other agency officer or employee; (5) if an IG was removed from office or transferred, the responsible official was required to report in writing the reasons for such action to Congress; (6) FERC had $141 million of budget authority for FY 1992 and 1,498 full-time staff positions; and (7) the DOE IG office at FERC had six auditors who had bachelor of science degrees in accounting and varied experience.