The Trump administration is moving to halt funding for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) beginning Wednesday, a move that will suspend the umbrella group’s oversight and training activities for 72 inspectors general across the federal government.
In a letter sent Saturday to four congressional committees and obtained by The Washington Post, CIGIE said it would “cease our statutorily mandated functions and furlough 25 permanent employees” due to the funding cutoff ordered by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), led by Director Russell Vought.
CIGIE has served as a “watchdog of the watchdogs,” coordinating cross-agency oversight, conducting peer reviews and training, and running oversight.gov, a platform that allows whistleblowers to report misconduct and makes inspector general findings publicly accessible.
The decision follows the Trump administration’s removal of inspectors general at 19 agencies and the appointment of political allies to posts traditionally held by nonpartisan officials. It remains unclear how the administration will continue several oversight programs required by law without CIGIE’s operations.
John Vecchione, an attorney with the New Civil Liberties Alliance who represented Cuffari, argued that CIGIE lacks a clear chain of command to the president and said OMB has the legal authority to halt its funding because part of its budget comes from interagency transfers overseen by OMB’s deputy director for management.
