Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3994 To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide that the President or certain agency heads may remove an Inspector General, or place an Inspector General on non-duty status, only if certain conditions are satisfied, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. LANKFORD, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. TESTER, Ms. COLLINS, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- fairs A BILL To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide that the President or certain agency heads may remove an Inspector General, or place an Inspector General on non-duty status, only if certain conditions are satisfied, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Inspector 4 General Independence Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3994 IS SEC. 2. REMOVAL OR TRANSFER OF INSPECTORS GENERAL; 1 PLACEMENT ON NON-DUTY STATUS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act of 3 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 3(b)— 5 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)(A)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; 6 (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated— 7 (i) in subparagraph (A), as so des- 8 ignated, in the second sentence— 9 (I) by striking ‘‘reasons’’ and in- 10 serting the following: ‘‘substantive ra- 11 tionale, including detailed and case- 12 specific reasons,’’; and 13 (II) by inserting ‘‘(including to 14 the Committee on Homeland Security 15 and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 16 ate and the Committee on Oversight 17 and Reform of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives)’’ after ‘‘Houses of Con- 19 gress’’; and 20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(B) If there is an open or completed inquiry into 23 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or trans- 24 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3994 IS written communication required under that subparagraph 1 shall— 2 ‘‘(i) identify each entity that is conducting, or 3 that conducted, the inquiry; and 4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a completed inquiry, contain 5 the findings made during the inquiry.’’; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para- 8 graph, only the President may place an Inspector General 9 on non-duty status. 10 ‘‘(B) If the President places an Inspector General on 11 non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writ- 12 ing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case- 13 specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses 14 of Congress (including to the Committee on Homeland Se- 15 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 16 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives) not later than 15 days before the date on 18 which the change in status takes effect, except that the 19 President may submit that communication on the date on 20 which the change in status takes effect if— 21 ‘‘(i) the President has made a determination 22 that the continued presence of the Inspector General 23 in the workplace poses a threat described in any of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3994 IS clauses (i) through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of 1 title 5, United States Code; and 2 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the President in- 3 cludes a report on the determination described in 4 clause (i), which shall include— 5 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec- 6 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 7 Code, the President has determined applies 8 under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 9 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 10 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter- 11 mination made under clause (i); 12 ‘‘(III) an identification of each entity that 13 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 14 upon which the determination under clause (i) 15 was made; and 16 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an inquiry described 17 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find- 18 ings made during that inquiry. 19 ‘‘(C) The President may not place an Inspector Gen- 20 eral on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre- 21 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 22 or transferred under paragraph (1)(A) unless the Presi- 23 dent— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3994 IS ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin- 1 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work- 2 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 3 through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 4 United States Code; and 5 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date on which the 6 change in status takes effect, submits to both 7 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 8 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 9 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform 10 of the House of Representatives) a written commu- 11 nication that contains the information required 12 under subparagraph (B), including the report re- 13 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 14 ‘‘(D) For the purposes of this paragraph— 15 ‘‘(i) the term ‘Inspector General’— 16 ‘‘(I) means an Inspector General who was 17 appointed by the President, without regard to 18 whether the Senate provided advice and consent 19 with respect to that appointment; and 20 ‘‘(II) includes the Inspector General of an 21 establishment, the Inspector General of the In- 22 telligence Community, the Inspector General of 23 the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special In- 24 spector General for Afghanistan Reconstruc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3994 IS tion, the Special Inspector General for the 1 Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the Special 2 Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery; and 3 ‘‘(ii) a reference to the removal or transfer of 4 an Inspector General under paragraph (1), or to the 5 written communication described in that paragraph, 6 shall be considered to be— 7 ‘‘(I) in the case of the Inspector General of 8 the Intelligence Community, a reference to 9 paragraph (4) of section 3033(c) of title 50, 10 United States Code; 11 ‘‘(II) in the case of the Inspector General 12 of the Central Intelligence Agency, a reference 13 to paragraph (6) of section 3517(b) of title 50, 14 United States Code; 15 ‘‘(III) in the case of the Special Inspector 16 General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a ref- 17 erence to paragraph (6) of section 1229(c) of 18 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- 19 cal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 20 379); 21 ‘‘(IV) in the case of the Special Inspector 22 General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 23 a reference to paragraph (4) of section 121(b) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3994 IS of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 1 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5231(b)); and 2 ‘‘(V) in the case of the Special Inspector 3 General for Pandemic Recovery, a reference to 4 paragraph (3) of section 4018(b) of the CARES 5 Act (Public Law 116–136).’’; and 6 (2) in section 8G(e)— 7 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 8 placement on non-duty status’’ after ‘‘a re- 9 moval’’; 10 (B) in paragraph (2)— 11 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’; 12 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des- 13 ignated, in the first sentence— 14 (I) by striking ‘‘reasons’’ and in- 15 serting the following: ‘‘substantive ra- 16 tionale, including detailed and case- 17 specific reasons,’’; and 18 (II) by inserting ‘‘(including to 19 the Committee on Homeland Security 20 and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 21 ate and the Committee on Oversight 22 and Reform of the House of Rep- 23 resentatives)’’ after ‘‘Houses of Con- 24 gress’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3994 IS (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(B) If there is an open or completed inquiry into 3 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or trans- 4 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 5 written communication required under that subparagraph 6 shall— 7 ‘‘(i) identify each entity that is conducting, or 8 that conducted, the inquiry; and 9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a completed inquiry, contain 10 the findings made during the inquiry.’’; and 11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para- 13 graph, only the head of the applicable designated Federal 14 entity (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘covered offi- 15 cial’) may place an Inspector General on non-duty status. 16 ‘‘(B) If a covered official places an Inspector General 17 on non-duty status, the covered official shall communicate 18 in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and 19 case-specific reasons, for the change in status to both 20 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 21 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 22 ate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 23 House of Representatives) not later than 15 days before 24 the date on which the change in status takes effect, except 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3994 IS that the covered official may submit that communication 1 on the date on which the change in status takes effect 2 if— 3 ‘‘(i) the covered official has made a determina- 4 tion that the continued presence of the Inspector 5 General in the workplace poses a threat described in 6 any of clauses (i) through (iv) of section 7 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code; and 8 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the covered official 9 includes a report on the determination described in 10 clause (i), which shall include— 11 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec- 12 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 13 Code, the covered official has determined ap- 14 plies under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 15 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 16 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter- 17 mination made under clause (i); 18 ‘‘(III) an identification of each entity that 19 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 20 upon which the determination under clause (i) 21 was made; and 22 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an inquiry described 23 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find- 24 ings made during that inquiry. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3994 IS ‘‘(C) A covered official may not place an Inspector 1 General on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre- 2 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 3 or transferred under paragraph (2)(A) unless the covered 4 official— 5 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin- 6 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work- 7 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 8 through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 9 United States Code; and 10 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date on which the 11 change in status takes effect, submits to both 12 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 13 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 14 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform 15 of the House of Representatives) a written commu- 16 nication that contains the information required 17 under subparagraph (B), including the report re- 18 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 19 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 20 limit or otherwise modify— 21 ‘‘(i) any statutory protection that is afforded to 22 an Inspector General; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3994 IS ‘‘(ii) any other action that a covered official 1 may take under law with respect to an Inspector 2 General.’’. 3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 4 Section 12(3) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting ‘‘except as otherwise 6 expressly provided,’’ before ‘‘the term’’. 7 SEC. 3. VACANCY IN POSITION OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Inspector General 9 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the 10 end the following: 11 ‘‘(h)(1) In this subsection— 12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘first assistant to the position of 13 Inspector General’ means, with respect to an Office 14 of Inspector General— 15 ‘‘(i) an individual who, as of the day before 16 the date on which the Inspector General dies, 17 resigns, or otherwise becomes unable to perform 18 the functions and duties of that position— 19 ‘‘(I) is serving in a position in that 20 Office; and 21 ‘‘(II) has been designated in writing 22 by the Inspector General, through an order 23 or succession or otherwise, as the first as- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3994 IS sistant to the position of Inspector Gen- 1 eral; or 2 ‘‘(ii) if the Inspector General has not made 3 a designation described in clause (i)(II)— 4 ‘‘(I) the Principal Deputy Inspector 5 General of that Office, as of the day before 6 the date on which the Inspector General 7 dies, resigns, or otherwise becomes unable 8 to perform the functions and duties of that 9 position; or 10 ‘‘(II) if there is no Principal Deputy 11 Inspector General of that Office, the Dep- 12 uty Inspector General of that Office, as of 13 the day before the date on which the In- 14 spector General dies, resigns, or otherwise 15 becomes unable to perform the functions 16 and duties of that position; and 17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Inspector General’— 18 ‘‘(i) means an Inspector General who is ap- [Text truncated for display. 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