Watchful eyes for the taxpayer

These days, the failure to win OKs for new federal government appointees is often blamed on gridlock between the two parties. But there’s no reason to believe that plays any substantial role in the Obama administration’s failure to fill several key inspector general vacancies.

There are 10 such vacancies, The Washington Post reports, including five at Cabinet-level agencies. Four of the positions have been vacant for more than three years. Some offices, such as the State Department’s, have been led by a deputy inspector general for years.

This administration’s failure to fill the vacancies has exposed “American taxpayer dollars to waste, fraud and abuse,” laments Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee.

Acting inspectors general have filled the vacant slots, but may not always be as aggressive in rooting out problems, according to some observers.

“Permanent IGs are in a better position to be viewed as credible than are acting IGs for a number of reasons,” Jake Wiens, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight, told the Post. “One is that permanent IGs are selected for the position on the basis of their qualifications to lead an IG office, whereas a temporary IG may be a good auditor or investigator, but may not be as qualified for a leadership role.”

The failure of the White House to bring forth nominees seems curious. There’s no reason to believe Republicans would systematically block them – in fact, in a letter last week to President Obama, Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Marco Rubio or Florida asked for information on the delays and a time frame in which nominations can be expected.

The day may come when a systematic policy of down-sizing the federal government by leaving positions unfilled could gain support, but there’s no reason to believe that’s Mr. Obama’s goal, nor would these 10 important oversight posts be a sensible place to start.

If nothing else, some lawmakers have asked why the president doesn’t merely nominate some of the acting inspectors general who have enjoyed successful tenures. Members of Rep. Issa’s committee praised Mary Kendall, acting inspector general of the Interior Department, for example. Ms. Kendall investigated the department’s role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Yes, the campaign season nears. But surely Mr. Obama doesn’t want to campaign on the slogan “Too busy to do the job.”