Letter to President Barack Obama - Nominate DHS Inspector General

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is urging the president to quickly fill the Inspector General (IG) position at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - a position that has been vacant for nearly three years. In a letter this week to President Obama, Ayotte urged him to nominate a qualified candidate for the position in light of a troubling new report that alleges widespread abuses of the agency's overtime pay system.

The Office of Special Counsel report found that some DHS employees have been padding their pay by claiming overtime pay that is unearned and unjustified, resulting in millions of dollars in improper payments. Ayotte has also requested a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to investigate the report's findings.

"DHS has been without a permanent Inspector General for nearly three years. It is my understanding that some of the whistleblower complaints were also submitted to the DHS Office of the Inspector General, but did not receive the appropriate level of attention," Ayotte wrote. "The continued absence of a permanent Inspector General is unacceptable, particularly at a cabinet-level agency, and I urge you to act swiftly to fill the DHS Inspector General vacancy with a qualified, experienced individual that can garner broad bipartisan support in the Senate."

Senator Ayotte has repeatedly called for the president to fill IG positions at the nation's key federal agencies - some of which have been vacant for as long as 1,000 days. Earlier this year, Ayotte helped introduce bipartisan legislation that would reduce lengthy IG vacancies at federal agencies.

AYOTTE LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA:

Dear President Obama:

I write to urge you to expeditiously nominate a qualified, experienced individual to fill the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General vacancy.

As you know, on Thursday, October 31, 2013, the federal Office of Special Counsel (OSC) submitted a report to Congress that found widespread abuses of DHS' overtime pay system to the tune of millions of taxpayer dollars in improper overtime payments.

Specifically, the OSC report found that a "profound and entrenched problem" has enabled employees in four Customs and Border Protection offices and two others to amass $8.7 million in unearned overtime payments per year. Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime is intended to compensate for unanticipated, urgent work-not to pad the pockets of employees who knowingly claim payments that are unearned and unjustified. I am deeply troubled by the flagrant misuse of government funds described in the report, and as a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I have requested that the committee hold a hearing to investigate these findings.

While I am alarmed by the OSC's findings, I am even more concerned by the reported endemic nature of the problem within DHS' culture, particularly the apparent lack of oversight within the department to discourage, reprimand, and end such behavior.

DHS has been without a permanent Inspector General for nearly three years. It is my understanding that some of the whistleblower complaints were also submitted to the DHS Office of the Inspector General, but did not receive the appropriate level of attention.

This report is a reminder of the critical role Inspectors General play in rooting out billions of dollars in waste and inefficiency each year, and in uncovering and prosecuting misconduct. The continued absence of a permanent Inspector General is unacceptable, particularly at a cabinet-level agency, and I urge you to act swiftly to fill the DHS Inspector General vacancy with a qualified, experienced individual that can garner broad bipartisan support in the Senate.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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