II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 587 

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 

MARCH 4, 2021 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. TESTER, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. WICKER, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Inspector 

5 General Independence Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OR TRANSFER OF INSPECTORS GENERAL; 

2 PLACEMENT ON NON-DUTY STATUS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act of 

4 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3(b)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)(A)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A), as so des9 ignated, in the second sentence— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘reasons’’ and in11 serting the following: ‘‘substantive ra12 tionale, including detailed and case13 specific reasons,’’; and 

14 (II) by inserting ‘‘(including to 

15 the Committee on Homeland Security 

16 and Governmental Affairs of the Sen17 ate, the Committee on Oversight and 

18 Reform of the House of Representa19 tives, and any other congressional 

20 committee that has jurisdiction with 

21 respect to that Inspector General)’’ 

22 after ‘‘Houses of Congress’’; and 

23 (ii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(B) If there is an open or completed inquiry into 

26 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or transVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587

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1 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 

2 written communication required under that subparagraph 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) identify each entity that is conducting, or 

5 that conducted, the inquiry; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a completed inquiry, contain 

7 the findings made during the inquiry.’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para10 graph, only the President may place an Inspector General 

11 on non-duty status. 

12 ‘‘(B) If the President places an Inspector General on 

13 non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writ14 ing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case15 specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses 

16 of Congress (including to the Committee on Homeland Se17 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Com18 mittee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep19 resentatives, and any other congressional committee that 

20 has jurisdiction with respect to that Inspector General) 

21 not later than 15 days before the date on which the change 

22 in status takes effect, except that the President may sub23 mit that communication on the date on which the change 

24 in status takes effect if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the President has made a determination 

2 that the continued presence of the Inspector General 

3 in the workplace poses a threat described in any of 

4 clauses (i) through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of 

5 title 5, United States Code; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the President in7 cludes a report on the determination described in 

8 clause (i), which shall include— 

9 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec10 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 

11 Code, the President has determined applies 

12 under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 

13 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 

14 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter15 mination made under clause (i); 

16 ‘‘(III) an identification of each entity that 

17 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 

18 upon which the determination under clause (i) 

19 was made; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an inquiry described 

21 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find22 ings made during that inquiry. 

23 ‘‘(C) The President may not place an Inspector Gen24 eral on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre25 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 


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1 or transferred under paragraph (1)(A) unless the Presi2 dent— 

3 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin4 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work5 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 

6 through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

7 United States Code; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date on which the 

9 change in status takes effect, submits to both 

10 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

11 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

12 Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

13 the House of Representatives, and any other con14 gressional committee that has jurisdiction with re15 spect to that Inspector General) a written commu16 nication that contains the information required 

17 under subparagraph (B), including the report re18 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 

19 ‘‘(D) For the purposes of this paragraph— 

20 ‘‘(i) the term ‘Inspector General’— 

21 ‘‘(I) means an Inspector General who was 

22 appointed by the President, without regard to 

23 whether the Senate provided advice and consent 

24 with respect to that appointment; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) includes the Inspector General of an 

2 establishment, the Inspector General of the In3 telligence Community, the Inspector General of 

4 the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special In5 spector General for Afghanistan Reconstruc6 tion, the Special Inspector General for the 

7 Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the Special 

8 Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) a reference to the removal or transfer of 

10 an Inspector General under paragraph (1), or to the 

11 written communication described in that paragraph, 

12 shall be considered to be— 

13 ‘‘(I) in the case of the Inspector General of 

14 the Intelligence Community, a reference to sec15 tion 103H(c)(4) of the National Security Act of 

16 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(c)(4)); 

17 ‘‘(II) in the case of the Inspector General 

18 of the Central Intelligence Agency, a reference 

19 to section 17(b)(6) of the Central Intelligence 

20 Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(b)(6)); 

21 ‘‘(III) in the case of the Special Inspector 

22 General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a ref23 erence to section 1229(c)(6) of the National 

24 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 

25 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 379); 


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1 ‘‘(IV) in the case of the Special Inspector 

2 General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 

3 a reference to section 121(b)(4) of the Emer4 gency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 

5 U.S.C. 5231(b)(4)); and 

6 ‘‘(V) in the case of the Special Inspector 

7 General for Pandemic Recovery, a reference to 

8 section 4018(b)(3) of the CARES Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 9053(b)(3)).’’; and 

10 (2) in section 8G(e)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 

12 placement on non-duty status’’ after ‘‘a re13 moval’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’; 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des17 ignated, in the first sentence— 

18 (I) by striking ‘‘reasons’’ and in19 serting the following: ‘‘substantive ra20 tionale, including detailed and case21 specific reasons,’’; and 

22 (II) by inserting ‘‘(including to 

23 the Committee on Homeland Security 

24 and Governmental Affairs of the Sen25 ate, the Committee on Oversight and 


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1 Reform of the House of Representa2 tives, and any other congressional 

3 committee that has jurisdiction with 

4 respect to that Inspector General)’’ 

5 after ‘‘Houses of Congress’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) If there is an open or completed inquiry into 

9 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or trans10 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 

11 written communication required under that subparagraph 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) identify each entity that is conducting, or 

14 that conducted, the inquiry; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a completed inquiry, contain 

16 the findings made during the inquiry.’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para19 graph, only the head of the applicable designated Federal 

20 entity (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘covered offi21 cial’) may place an Inspector General on non-duty status. 

22 ‘‘(B) If a covered official places an Inspector General 

23 on non-duty status, the covered official shall communicate 

24 in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and 

25 case-specific reasons, for the change in status to both 


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1 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

2 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen3 ate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House 

4 of Representatives, and any other congressional committee 

5 that has jurisdiction with respect to that Inspector Gen6 eral) not later than 15 days before the date on which the 

7 change in status takes effect, except that the covered offi8 cial may submit that communication on the date on which 

9 the change in status takes effect if— 

10 ‘‘(i) the covered official has made a determina11 tion that the continued presence of the Inspector 

12 General in the workplace poses a threat described in 

13 any of clauses (i) through (iv) of section 

14 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the covered official 

16 includes a report on the determination described in 

17 clause (i), which shall include— 

18 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec19 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 

20 Code, the covered official has determined ap21 plies under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 

22 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 

23 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter24 mination made under clause (i); 


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1 ‘‘(III) an identification of each entity that 

2 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 

3 upon which the determination under clause (i) 

4 was made; and 

5 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an inquiry described 

6 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find7 ings made during that inquiry. 

8 ‘‘(C) A covered official may not place an Inspector 

9 General on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre10 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 

11 or transferred under paragraph (2)(A) unless the covered 

12 official— 

13 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin14 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work15 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 

16 through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

17 United States Code; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date on which the 

19 change in status takes effect, submits to both 

20 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

21 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

22 Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

23 the House of Representatives, and any other con24 gressional committee that has jurisdiction with re25 spect to that Inspector General) a written commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587

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1 nication that contains the information required 

2 under subparagraph (B), including the report re3 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 

4 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 

5 limit or otherwise modify— 

6 ‘‘(i) any statutory protection that is afforded to 

7 an Inspector General; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) any other action that a covered official 

9 may take under law with respect to an Inspector 

10 General.’’. 

11 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

12 Section 12(3) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

13 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting ‘‘except as otherwise 

14 expressly provided,’’ before ‘‘the term’’. 

15 SEC. 3. VACANCY IN POSITION OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Inspector General 

17 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following: 

19 ‘‘(h)(1) In this subsection— 

20 ‘‘(A) the term ‘first assistant to the position of 

21 Inspector General’ means, with respect to an Office 

22 of Inspector General— 

23 ‘‘(i) an individual who, as of the day before 

24 the date on which the Inspector General dies, 


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1 resigns, or otherwise becomes unable to perform 

2 the functions and duties of that position— 

3 ‘‘(I) is serving in a position in that 

4 Office; and 

5 ‘‘(II) has been designated in writing 

6 by the Inspector General, through an order 

7 of succession or otherwise, as the first as8 sistant to the position of Inspector Gen9 eral; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) if the Inspector General has not made 

11 a designation described in clause (i)(II)— 

12 ‘‘(I) the Principal Deputy Inspector 

13 General of that Office, as of the day before 

14 the date on which the Inspector General 

15 dies, resigns, or otherwise becomes unable 

16 to perform the functions and duties of that 

17 position; or 

18 ‘‘(II) if there is no Principal Deputy 

19 Inspector General of that Office, the Dep20 uty Inspector General of that Office, as of 

21 the day before the date on which the In22 spector General dies, resigns, or otherwise 

23 becomes unable to perform the functions 

24 and duties of that position; and 

25 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Inspector General’— 


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1 ‘‘(i) means an Inspector General who is ap2 pointed by the President, by and with the ad3 vice and consent of the Senate; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) includes the Inspector General of an 

5 establishment, the Inspector General of the In6 telligence Community, the Inspector General of 

7 the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special In8 spector General for the Troubled Asset Relief 

9 Program, and the Special Inspector General for 

10 Pandemic Recovery. 

11 ‘‘(2) If an Inspector General dies, resigns, or is other12 wise unable to perform the functions and duties of the po13 sition— 

14 ‘‘(A) section 3345(a) of title 5, United States 

15 Code, and section 103(e) of the National Security 

16 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3025(e)) shall not apply; 

17 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (4), the first assist18 ant to the position of Inspector General shall per19 form the functions and duties of the Inspector Gen20 eral temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the 

21 time limitations of section 3346 of title 5, United 

22 States Code; and 

23 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding subparagraph (B), and 

24 subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the President 

25 (and only the President) may direct an officer or 


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1 employee of any Office of an Inspector General to 

2 perform the functions and duties of the Inspector 

3 General temporarily in an acting capacity subject to 

4 the time limitations of section 3346 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, only if— 

6 ‘‘(i) during the 365-day period preceding 

7 the date of death, resignation, or beginning of 

8 inability to serve of the Inspector General, the 

9 officer or employee served in a position in an 

10 Office of an Inspector General for not less than 

11 90 days, except that— 

12 ‘‘(I) the requirement under this clause 

13 shall not apply if the officer is an Inspec14 tor General; and 

15 ‘‘(II) for the purposes of this subpara16 graph, performing the functions and duties 

17 of an Inspector General temporarily in an 

18 acting capacity does not qualify as service 

19 in a position in an Office of an Inspector 

20 General; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the rate of pay for the position of the 

22 officer or employee described in clause (i) is 

23 equal to or greater than the minimum rate of 

24 pay payable for a position at GS–15 of the 

25 General Schedule; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the officer or employee has dem2 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, finan3 cial analysis, law, management analysis, public 

4 administration, or investigations; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) not later than 30 days before the 

6 date on which the direction takes effect, the 

7 President communicates in writing to both 

8 Houses of Congress (including to the Com9 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern10 mental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on 

11 Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep12 resentatives, and any other congressional com13 mittee that has jurisdiction with respect to that 

14 Inspector General) the substantive rationale, in15 cluding the detailed and case-specific reasons, 

16 for such direction, including the reason for the 

17 direction that someone other than the individual 

18 who is performing the functions and duties of 

19 the Inspector General temporarily in an acting 

20 capacity (as of the date on which the President 

21 issues that direction) perform those functions 

22 and duties temporarily in an acting capacity. 

23 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 3345(a) of title 5, 

24 United States Code, section 103(e) of the National Secu25 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3025(e)), and subparagraphs 


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1 (B) and (C) of paragraph (2), and subject to paragraph 

2 (4), during any period in which an Inspector General is 

3 on non-duty status— 

4 ‘‘(A) the first assistant to the position of In5 spector General shall perform the functions and du6 ties of the position temporarily in an acting capacity 

7 subject to the time limitations of section 3346 of 

8 title 5, United States Code; and 

9 ‘‘(B) if the first assistant described in subpara10 graph (A) dies, resigns, or becomes otherwise unable 

11 to perform those functions and duties, the President 

12 (and only the President) may direct an officer or 

13 employee in that Office of Inspector General to per14 form those functions and duties temporarily in an 

15 acting capacity, subject to the time limitations of 

16 section 3346 of title 5, United States Code, if— 

17 ‘‘(i) that direction satisfies the require18 ments under clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv) of para19 graph (2)(C); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) that officer or employee served in a 

21 position in that Office of Inspector General for 

22 not fewer than 90 of the 365 days preceding 

23 the date on which the President makes that di24 rection. 


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1 ‘‘(4) An individual may perform the functions and 

2 duties of an Inspector General temporarily and in an act3 ing capacity under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph 

4 (2), or under paragraph (3), with respect to only 1 Inspec5 tor General position at any given time. 

6 ‘‘(5) If the President makes a direction under para7 graph (2)(C), during the 30-day period preceding the date 

8 on which the direction of the President takes effect, the 

9 functions and duties of the position of the applicable In10 spector General shall be performed by— 

11 ‘‘(A) the first assistant to the position of In12 spector General; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the individual performing those functions 

14 and duties temporarily in an acting capacity, as of 

15 the date on which the President issues that direc16 tion, if that individual is an individual other than 

17 the first assistant to the position of Inspector Gen18 eral.’’. 

19 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

20 amendment made by subsection (a) may be construed to 

21 limit the applicability of sections 3345 through 3349d of 

22 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed23 eral Vacancies Reform Act of 1998’’), other than with re24 spect to section 3345(a) of that title. 

25 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

2 ‘‘Inspector General’’ has the meaning given the term 

3 in subsection (h)(1)(B) of section 3 of the Inspector 

4 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), as added by 

5 subsection (a) of this section. 

6 (2) APPLICABILITY.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

8 subparagraph (B), this section, and the amend9 ments made by this section, shall take effect on 

10 the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (B) EXISTING VACANCIES.—If, as of the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, an individual is 

13 performing the functions and duties of an In14 spector General temporarily in an acting capac15 ity, this section, and the amendments made by 

16 this section, shall take effect with respect to 

17 that Inspector General position on the date that 

18 is 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL WHISTLEBLOWER 

21 COMPLAINTS. 

22 (a) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION COORDINATOR.— 

23 Section 3(d)(1)(C) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

24 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i), in the matter preceding sub2 clause (I), by inserting ‘‘, including employees of 

3 that Office of Inspector General’’ after ‘‘employees’’; 

4 and 

5 (2) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘(including the 

6 Integrity Committee of that Council)’’ after ‘‘and 

7 Efficiency’’. 

8 (b) COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS GENERAL ON IN9 TEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY.—Section 11(c)(5)(B) of the 

10 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended 

11 by striking ‘‘, allegations of reprisal,’’ and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘and allegations of reprisal (including the timely 

13 and appropriate handling and consideration of protected 

14 disclosures and allegations of reprisal that are internal to 

15 an Office of Inspector General)’’. 

Æ 


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