Bipartisan bill would force agencies to post watchdog recommendations

Senators unveiled a bipartisan bill Thursday that would force federal agencies to post online the recommendations they receive from internal federal watchdogs.

The Inspector General Recommendation Transparency Act, introduced by Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), requires all recommendations from inspectors general at federal agencies that have gone unimplemented for more than a year to be posted to a single, searchable website.

Their goal is to give Congress and the public a way to keep tabs on the problems that have been identified and whether the agency has taken steps to get them resolved.

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Inspectors general at federal agencies conduct audits to combat waste, fraud and abuse. 

“Each year, our government invests in the important work of inspectors general,” Heitkamp said in a statement. 

“Unfortunately, it’s often difficult for taxpayers to assess whether a federal agency is listening to inspector general recommendations and making good-faith efforts to correct major issues that could help the federal government work better,” she said.

In 2015, the Federal Offices of Inspectors General reported that inspectors identified $26.3 billion in potential savings from audit recommendations agreed to by management, according to the Progress Report to the President.