Rep. McHenry Probes Agencies' IGs for Cost Cutting Measures
By: Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor
Washington,
January 7, 2019 -
The new ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee wants SEC, Treasury, CFPB to tell him by Jan. 24 how the agencies plan to reduce waste, fraud and abuse.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the new ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, wants eight Inspectors General of the agencies within the committee’s jurisdiction to provide updates on their efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse by cutting unimplemented recommendations.
McHenry’s Monday letter highlights the IGs’ “shared mission to reduce costs and improve efficiency throughout the federal bureaucracy,” through audits, investigations, and ultimately recommendations for reform, “with the potential to save taxpayers approximately $45.1 billion” in the most recent fiscal year.
The letter was sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among other agencies.
The IGs, his letter states, “periodically report their inventory of unimplemented recommendations — those for which the agency has been unable or unwilling to take corrective action. Those reports yield valuable data for policymakers seeking to improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the federal government.”
McHenry, who asked for a response from each IG by Jan. 24, also probed the IGs to provide additional details on the agencies’ efforts to address these cost-saving recommendations, as the savings “can only be realized… when the agencies implement them.”
Specifically, McHenry wants the IGs to identify unimplemented recommendations that their office considers “to be the most important or urgent,” as well as “whether agency management agreed or disagreed with the recommendation.”
McHenry asked the agencies to identify the three open or unimplemented recommendations their office considers the most important or urgent, and to note the status of the recommendation, as well as the cost savings associated with the recommendation (if applicable).
He also asked the agencies to describe the IG office’s audit and investigative priorities for fiscal year 2019, with start and end dates.
