I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4587 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a judge on the appropriate 
court of appeals of the United States to appoint certain acting Inspectors 
General in the event of a vacancy, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2025 
Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a judge 
on the appropriate court of appeals of the United States 
to appoint certain acting Inspectors General in the event 
of a vacancy, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Independent Acting 
IGs Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. VACANCY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL POSITIONS. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 403(h) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(A) in clause (i)(I), by inserting ‘‘for at 
least 180 of the proceeding 365 days’’ after 
‘‘that Office’’; and 
(B) in clause (ii)— 
(i) in subclause (I), by inserting ‘‘if 
the Principal Deputy Inspector General of 
that Office has been serving in that posi-
tion for at least 180 of the proceeding 365 
days’’ after ‘‘of that position’’; and 
(ii) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘if 
the Deputy Inspector General of that Of-
fice has been serving in that position for at 
least 180 of the proceeding 365 days’’ 
after ‘‘of that position’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph 
(C) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(C) if an Inspector General position that 
requires appointment by the President by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate to be 
filled is vacant, the first assistant to the posi-
tion of Inspector General shall serve as the act-
ing Inspector General; and 
‘‘(D) if the first assistant to the position of 
Inspector General is vacant or the first assist-
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ant to the position of Inspector General is un-
able or unavailable or declines to serve as act-
ing Inspector General, an individual shall be ap-
pointed in accordance with paragraph (5) to 
serve as acting Inspector General.’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(5) The process by which an individual shall 
be appointed pursuant to paragraph (2)(D) as the 
individual to perform the functions and duties of the 
Inspector General temporarily in an acting capacity 
subject to the time limitations of section 3346 of 
title 5 (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘acting 
Inspector General’), is as follows: 
‘‘(A) A judge, selected at random from the 
court of appeals for the circuit within which the 
headquarters of the Office of the Inspector 
General is located by the chief judge of such 
court of appeals, shall appoint the acting In-
spector General in accordance with subpara-
graph (D). 
‘‘(B) Not later than 14 days after the date 
on which an Inspector General position becomes 
vacant as a result of vacancy in the first assist-
ant position as described in paragraph (2)(D), 
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the Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors 
General on Integrity and Efficiency shall con-
vene a committee of 3 Inspectors General who 
are members of the Chairperson of the Council 
of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Effi-
ciency, and the committee shall recommend to 
the judge selected under subparagraph (A) to 
appoint the acting Inspector General not fewer 
than 2 candidates to serve as the acting Inspec-
tor General. 
‘‘(C) Not later than 14 days after the date 
on which the committee is convened under sub-
paragraph (B), the committee shall submit a 
list of the recommended candidates to the judge 
selected under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(D) Not later than 14 days after the date 
on which the judge receives the list of the rec-
ommended candidates, the judge shall appoint 
the acting Inspector General. 
‘‘(E) The judge has the sole authority to 
appoint an individual to carry out the duties of 
the relevant office until the vacancy is filled.’’. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding section 3347 
of title 5, United States Code, in the event of a vacancy 
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for a position of Inspector General, section 403(h) of such 
title, as amended by this Act, shall apply. 
(c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a)(2)(C) of H.R. 
7326, as passed by the House of Representatives on 
December 3, 2024, shall have the force and effect of 
law. 
(2) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—This subsection shall 
take effect before the amendments made by sub-
section (a). 
Æ 
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