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 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 2020’’. 


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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 and the Committee on Oversight 

18 and Reform of the House of Rep19 resentatives)’’ after ‘‘Houses of Con20 gress’’; and 

21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

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

24 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or trans25 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 


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1 written communication required under that subparagraph 

2 shall— 

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

4 that conducted, the inquiry; and 

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

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

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

8 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para9 graph, only the President may place an Inspector General 

10 on non-duty status. 

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

12 non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writ13 ing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case14 specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses 

15 of Congress (including to the Committee on Homeland Se16 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep18 resentatives) not later than 15 days before the date on 

19 which the change in status takes effect, except that the 

20 President may submit that communication on the date on 

21 which the change in status takes effect if— 

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

23 that the continued presence of the Inspector General 

24 in the workplace poses a threat described in any of 


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

2 title 5, United States Code; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the communication, the President in4 cludes a report on the determination described in 

5 clause (i), which shall include— 

6 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec7 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 

8 Code, the President has determined applies 

9 under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 

10 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 

11 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter12 mination made under clause (i); 

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

14 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 

15 upon which the determination under clause (i) 

16 was made; and 

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

18 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find19 ings made during that inquiry. 

20 ‘‘(C) The President may not place an Inspector Gen21 eral on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre22 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 

23 or transferred under paragraph (1)(A) unless the Presi24 dent— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin2 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work3 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 

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

5 United States Code; and 

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

7 change in status takes effect, submits to both 

8 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

9 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

10 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

11 of the House of Representatives) a written commu12 nication that contains the information required 

13 under subparagraph (B), including the report re14 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 

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

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

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

18 appointed by the President, without regard to 

19 whether the Senate provided advice and consent 

20 with respect to that appointment; and 

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

22 establishment, the Inspector General of the In23 telligence Community, the Inspector General of 

24 the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special In25 spector General for Afghanistan ReconstrucVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994

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1 tion, the Special Inspector General for the 

2 Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the Special 

3 Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery; and 

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

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

6 written communication described in that paragraph, 

7 shall be considered to be— 

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

9 the Intelligence Community, a reference to 

10 paragraph (4) of section 3033(c) of title 50, 

11 United States Code; 

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

13 of the Central Intelligence Agency, a reference 

14 to paragraph (6) of section 3517(b) of title 50, 

15 United States Code; 

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

17 General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a ref18 erence to paragraph (6) of section 1229(c) of 

19 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis20 cal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 

21 379); 

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

23 General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 

24 a reference to paragraph (4) of section 121(b) 


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1 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 

2 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5231(b)); and 

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

4 General for Pandemic Recovery, a reference to 

5 paragraph (3) of section 4018(b) of the CARES 

6 Act (Public Law 116–136).’’; and 

7 (2) in section 8G(e)— 

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

9 placement on non-duty status’’ after ‘‘a re10 moval’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

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

13 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as so des14 ignated, in the first sentence— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘reasons’’ and in16 serting the following: ‘‘substantive ra17 tionale, including detailed and case18 specific reasons,’’; and 

19 (II) by inserting ‘‘(including to 

20 the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Sen22 ate and the Committee on Oversight 

23 and Reform of the House of Rep24 resentatives)’’ after ‘‘Houses of Con25 gress’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 an Inspector General that relates to the removal or trans5 fer of the Inspector General under subparagraph (A), the 

6 written communication required under that subparagraph 

7 shall— 

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

9 that conducted, the inquiry; and 

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

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

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

13 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to the other provisions of this para14 graph, only the head of the applicable designated Federal 

15 entity (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘covered offi16 cial’) may place an Inspector General on non-duty status. 

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

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

19 in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and 

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

21 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

22 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen23 ate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

24 House of Representatives) not later than 15 days before 

25 the date on which the change in status takes effect, except 


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1 that the covered official may submit that communication 

2 on the date on which the change in status takes effect 

3 if— 

4 ‘‘(i) the covered official has made a determina5 tion that the continued presence of the Inspector 

6 General in the workplace poses a threat described in 

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

8 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code; and 

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

10 includes a report on the determination described in 

11 clause (i), which shall include— 

12 ‘‘(I) a specification of which clause of sec13 tion 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States 

14 Code, the covered official has determined ap15 plies under clause (i) of this subparagraph; 

16 ‘‘(II) the substantive rationale, including 

17 detailed and case-specific reasons, for the deter18 mination made under clause (i); 

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

20 is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry 

21 upon which the determination under clause (i) 

22 was made; and 

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

24 in subclause (III) that is completed, the find25 ings made during that inquiry. 


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

2 General on non-duty status during the 30-day period pre3 ceding the date on which the Inspector General is removed 

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

5 official— 

6 ‘‘(i) has made a determination that the contin7 ued presence of the Inspector General in the work8 place poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) 

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

10 United States Code; and 

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

12 change in status takes effect, submits to both 

13 Houses of Congress (including to the Committee on 

14 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

15 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

16 of the House of Representatives) a written commu17 nication that contains the information required 

18 under subparagraph (B), including the report re19 quired under clause (ii) of that subparagraph. 

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

21 limit or otherwise modify— 

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

23 an Inspector General; or 


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

2 may take under law with respect to an Inspector 

3 General.’’. 

4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h)(1) In this subsection— 

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

14 Inspector General’ means, with respect to an Office 

15 of Inspector General— 

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

17 the date on which the Inspector General dies, 

18 resigns, or otherwise becomes unable to perform 

19 the functions and duties of that position— 

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

21 Office; and 

22 ‘‘(II) has been designated in writing 

23 by the Inspector General, through an order 

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1 sistant to the position of Inspector Gen2 eral; or 

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

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

5 ‘‘(I) the Principal Deputy Inspector 

6 General of that Office, as of the day before 

7 the date on which the Inspector General 

8 dies, resigns, or otherwise becomes unable 

9 to perform the functions and duties of that 

10 position; or 

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

12 Inspector General of that Office, the Dep13 uty Inspector General of that Office, as of 

14 the day before the date on which the In15 spector General dies, resigns, or otherwise 

16 becomes unable to perform the functions 

17 and duties of that position; and 

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

19 ‘‘(i) means an Inspector General who is ap20 pointed by the President, by and with the ad21 vice and consent of the Senate; and 

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

23 establishment, the Inspector General of the In24 telligence Community, the Inspector General of 

25 the Central Intelligence Agency, the Special InVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3994.IS S3994

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1 spector General for the Troubled Asset Relief 

2 Program, and the Special Inspector General for 

3 Pandemic Recovery. 

4 ‘‘(2) If an Inspector General dies, resigns, or is other5 wise unable to perform the functions and duties of the po6 sition— 

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

8 Code, and section 3025(e) of title 50, United States 

9 Code, shall not apply; 

10 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (4), the first assist11 ant to the position of Inspector General shall per12 form the functions and duties of the Inspector Gen13 eral temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the 

14 time limitations of section 3346 of title 5, United 

15 States Code; and 

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

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

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

19 employee of any Office of an Inspector General to 

20 perform the functions and duties of the Inspector 

21 General temporarily in an acting capacity subject to 

22 the time limitations of section 3346 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, only if— 

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

25 the date of death, resignation, or beginning of 


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1 inability to serve of the Inspector General, the 

2 officer or employee served in a position in an 

3 Office of an Inspector General for not less than 

4 90 days, except that— 

5 ‘‘(I) the requirement under this clause 

6 shall not apply if the officer is an Inspec7 tor General; and 

8 ‘‘(II) for the purposes of this subpara9 graph, performing the functions and duties 

10 of an Inspector General temporarily in an 

11 acting capacity does not qualify as service 

12 in a position in an Office of an Inspector 

13 General; 

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

15 officer or employee described in clause (i) is 

16 equal to or greater than the minimum rate of 

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

18 General Schedule; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the officer or employee has dem20 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, finan21 cial analysis, law, management analysis, public 

22 administration, or investigations; and 

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

24 date on which the direction takes effect, the 

25 President communicates in writing to both 


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1 Houses of Congress the substantive rationale, 

2 including the detailed and case-specific reasons, 

3 for such direction, including the reason for the 

4 direction that someone other than the individual 

5 who is performing the functions and duties of 

6 the Inspector General temporarily in an acting 

7 capacity (as of the date on which the President 

8 issues that direction) perform those functions 

9 and duties temporarily in an acting capacity. 

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

11 United States Code, section 3025(e) of title 50, United 

12 States Code, and subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph 

13 (2), and subject to paragraph (4), during any period in 

14 which an Inspector General is on non-duty status— 

15 ‘‘(A) the first assistant to the position of In16 spector General shall perform the functions and du17 ties of the position temporarily in an acting capacity 

18 subject to the time limitations of section 3346 of 

19 title 5, United States Code; and 

20 ‘‘(B) if the first assistant described in subpara21 graph (A) dies, resigns, or becomes otherwise unable 

22 to perform those functions and duties, the President 

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

24 employee in that Office of Inspector General to per25 form those functions and duties temporarily in an 


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1 acting capacity, subject to the time limitations of 

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

3 ‘‘(i) that direction satisfies the require4 ments under clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv) of para5 graph (2)(C); and 

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

7 position in that Office of Inspector General for 

8 not fewer than 90 of the 365 days preceding 

9 the date on which the President makes that di10 rection. 

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

12 duties of an Inspector General temporarily and in an act13 ing capacity under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph 

14 (2), or under paragraph (3), with respect to only 1 Inspec15 tor General position at any given time. 

16 ‘‘(5) If the President makes a direction under para17 graph (2)(C), during the 30-day period preceding the date 

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

19 functions and duties of the position of the applicable In20 spector General shall be performed by— 

21 ‘‘(A) the first assistant to the position of In22 spector General; or 

23 ‘‘(B) the individual performing those functions 

24 and duties temporarily in an acting capacity, as of 

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1 tion, if that individual is an individual other than 

2 the first assistant to the position of Inspector Gen3 eral.’’. 

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

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

6 limit the applicability of sections 3345 through 3349d of 

7 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed8 eral Vacancies Reform Act of 1998’’), other than with re9 spect to section 3345(a) of that title. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

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

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

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

15 subsection (a) of this section. 

16 (2) APPLICABILITY.— 

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

18 subparagraph (B), this section, and the amend19 ments made by this section, shall take effect on 

20 the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

22 date of enactment of this Act, an individual is 

23 performing the functions and duties of an In24 spector General temporarily in an acting capac25 ity, this section, and the amendments made by 


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1 this section, shall take effect with respect to 

2 that Inspector General position on the date that 

3 is 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

4 Act. 

5 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL WHISTLEBLOWER 

6 COMPLAINTS. 

7 (a) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION COORDINATOR.— 

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

9 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

10 (1) in clause (i), in the matter preceding sub11 clause (I), by inserting ‘‘, including employees of 

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

13 and 

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

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

16 Efficiency’’. 

17 (b) COUNCIL OF THE INSPECTORS GENERAL ON IN18 TEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY.—Section 11(c)(5)(B) of the 

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

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

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

22 and appropriate handling and consideration of protected 

23 disclosures and allegations of reprisal that are internal to 

24 an Office of Inspector General)’’. 

Æ 


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