5 U.S.C. § 404 — Duties and responsibilities

submitted 4 years ago by Pub. L. 117-286 to r/title-5-GOVERNMENT-ORGANIZATION-AND-EMPLOYEES · 827 words · no verdicts yet

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Each Inspector General must audit and investigate their agency's programs, and review laws and rules that affect them. They must recommend ways to save money, stop fraud, and fix problems, and keep Congress and the agency head informed. They must also report any suspected federal crimes to the Attorney General.

(a) Each Inspector General must, for the establishment where their office sits: 1. Direct, run, oversee, and coordinate audits and investigations of that establishment's programs and operations. 2. Review current and proposed laws and rules affecting those programs, and — in the twice-yearly reports required by section 405(b) — recommend how they affect economy, efficiency, and the prevention or detection of fraud and abuse. 3. Recommend policies for, and run, oversee, or coordinate, other activities meant to promote economy and efficiency or to prevent and detect fraud and abuse. 4. Recommend policies for, and run, oversee, or coordinate, the establishment's relationships with other federal, state, and local agencies and with private groups — on matters of economy, efficiency, fraud, and abuse, and on identifying and prosecuting people involved in that fraud or abuse. 5. Keep the establishment's head and Congress fully and currently informed — through the section 405 reports and otherwise — about fraud and other serious problems, recommend fixes, and report on progress fixing them. (b) Standards and guidelines. 1. In carrying out the audit duties in (a)(1), each Inspector General must follow the audit standards set by the Comptroller General, set guidelines for when to use non-federal auditors, and make sure any work by non-federal auditors meets those Comptroller General standards. 2. To check whether an office's internal quality controls and audit standards are actually being followed, only an audit entity within the federal government — such as the Government Accountability Office or another Inspector General's office — may perform that review. (c) In carrying out these duties, each Inspector General must pay close attention to the Comptroller General's work, to avoid duplicating it and to keep coordination and cooperation effective. (d) Whenever an Inspector General has reasonable grounds to believe a federal crime occurred, the Inspector General must report it to the Attorney General promptly. (e) Recommendations for corrective action. 1. Whenever an Inspector General recommends a corrective action, the Inspector General must send the recommendation document to the establishment's head, the relevant congressional committees, and — if the recommendation was requested by an outside person or group — to that requester; may also send it to any member of Congress who asks; and must post it on the Inspector General's website within 3 days after the final version goes to the establishment's head. 2. None of this permits an Inspector General to publicly disclose information that another law says must stay confidential.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)In General.—

It shall be the duty and responsibility of each Inspector General, with respect to the establishment within which the Inspector General’s Office is established—

(1)

to provide policy direction for and to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of the establishment;

(2)

to review existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to programs and operations of the establishment and to make recommendations in the semiannual reports required by section 405(b) of this title concerning the impact of the legislation and regulations on the economy and efficiency in the administration of programs and operations administered or financed by the establishment, or the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in the programs and operations;

(3)

to recommend policies for, and to conduct, supervise, or coordinate other activities carried out or financed by, the establishment for the purpose of promoting economy and efficiency in the administration of, or preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in, its programs and operations;

(4)

to recommend policies for the establishment, and to conduct, supervise, or coordinate relationships between the establishment and other Federal agencies, State and local governmental agencies, and nongovernmental entities, with respect to—

(A)

all matters relating to the promotion of economy and efficiency in the administration of, or the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in, programs and operations administered or financed by the establishment; or

(B)

the identification and prosecution of participants in fraud or abuse referred to in subparagraph (A); and

(5)

to keep the head of the establishment and Congress fully and currently informed, by means of the reports required by section 405 of this title and otherwise, concerning fraud and other serious problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administration of programs and operations administered or financed by the establishment, to recommend corrective action concerning the problems, abuses, and deficiencies, and to report on the progress made in implementing the corrective action.

(b)Standards and Guidelines.—

(1)In general.—

In carrying out the responsibilities specified in subsection (a)(1), each Inspector General shall—

(A)

comply with standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States for audits of Federal establishments, organizations, programs, activities, and functions;

(B)

establish guidelines for determining when it shall be appropriate to use non-Federal auditors; and

(C)

take appropriate steps to ensure that any work performed by non-Federal auditors complies with the standards established by the Comptroller General as described in paragraph (1).1

(2)Reviews performed exclusively by audit entities in federal government.—

For purposes of determining compliance with paragraph (1)(A) with respect to whether internal quality controls are in place and operating and whether established audit standards, policies, and procedures are being followed by Offices of Inspector General of establishments defined under section 401 of this title, Offices of Inspector General of designated Federal entities defined under section 415(a) of this title, and any audit office established within a Federal entity defined under section 415(a) of this title, reviews shall be performed exclusively by an audit entity in the Federal Government, including the Government Accountability Office or the Office of Inspector General of each establishment defined under section 401 of this title, or the Office of Inspector General of each designated Federal entity defined under section 415(a) of this title.

(c)Effective Coordination and Cooperation.—

In carrying out the duties and responsibilities established under this chapter, each Inspector General shall give particular regard to the activities of the Comptroller General of the United States with a view toward avoiding duplication and ensuring effective coordination and cooperation.

(d)Reporting Violation of Federal Criminal Law.—

In carrying out the duties and responsibilities established under this chapter, each Inspector General shall report expeditiously to the Attorney General whenever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to believe there has been a violation of Federal criminal law.

(e)Recommendations for Corrective Actions.—

(1)Submission of documents.—

In carrying out the duties and responsibilities established under this chapter, whenever an Inspector General issues a recommendation for corrective action to the agency, the Inspector General—

(A)

shall submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to—

(i)

the head of the establishment;

(ii)

the congressional committees of jurisdiction; and

(iii)

if the recommendation for corrective action was initiated upon request by an individual or entity other than the Inspector General, that individual or entity;

(B)

may submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to any Member of Congress upon request; and

(C)

not later than 3 days after the recommendation for corrective action is submitted in final form to the head of the establishment, post the document making a recommendation for corrective action on the website of the Office of Inspector General.

(2)Public disclosure otherwise prohibited by law.—

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing an Inspector General to publicly disclose information otherwise prohibited from disclosure by law.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 117–286, § 3(b), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4210.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2022Enacted · Pub. L. 117-286 · 136 Stat. 4210

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 117-286 on 2022-12-27.

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