"Several government oversight websites went down - and with them, access to watchdog reports and required hotline and whistleblower links - as of Wednesday morning as the White House Office of Management and Budget has moved to withhold funds from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or CIGIE. "Due to a lack of apportionment of funds, this website is currently unavailable," the CIGIE website states."
"The Office of Inspector General websites for the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Justice, Interior and Veterans Affairs show the same line, as well as the OIG website for the Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Office of Personnel Management. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration's website is also down. CIGIE is an independent entity charged by Congress with addressing cross-cutting oversight issues in the government."
"It provides training for investigators and auditors, acts as a watchdog for the watchdog community within government and conducts cross-agency work. It also runs Oversight.gov, which houses over 34,000 reports from most of the 70 plus OIGs, and operates 28 OIG websites that house legally required hotlines for whistleblowers to report suspected cases of government waste, fraud and abuse. Some of the affected OIG websites have made social media posts offering phone numbers or alternative online hotline complaint forms for individuals to use instead."
""Shuttering CIGIE will eviscerate transparency in our federal government," Mark Greenblatt, former executive director of CIGIE and former Inspector General for the Interior Department, said in a Tuesday statement. CIGIE warned lawmakers in a letter Saturday that OMB had made a "policy decision" to not apportion funding for fiscal year 2026 for CIGIE, which is primarily funded in a no-year revolving account that member OIGs contribute to, meaning that CIGIE isn't impacted by the current government"
Several government oversight websites went offline after the White House Office of Management and Budget moved to withhold funds from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). CIGIE and multiple OIG websites displayed messages citing a lack of apportionment of funds, and sites for Agriculture, Education, Justice, Interior, Veterans Affairs, EPA, NRC, OPM and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration were affected. CIGIE coordinates cross-agency oversight, provides training, runs Oversight.gov with over 34,000 reports, and operates 28 OIG sites that host legally required whistleblower hotlines. Some OIGs provided alternative phone numbers and online complaint forms, while former CIGIE leaders warned that shuttering CIGIE would eviscerate federal transparency.
Read at Nextgov.com
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