What is Oversight.gov?

Oversight.gov was created by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to consolidate in one place all public reports from Federal Inspectors General (IGs) in order to improve the public’s access to independent and authoritative information about the Federal Government. The site includes a publicly accessible, text searchable repository of reports published by IGs.

The reports appearing on Oversight.gov, as well as the data associated with them, have been posted directly to the site by the IG that issued it. CIGIE operates and maintains the site.  Reports on Oversight.gov can also be accessed through the websites of the individual Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs).

What are Inspectors General?

Under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, the role of federal IGs is to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse relating to their agency’s programs and operations, and to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the agency’s operations and programs.

OIGs are located within their agencies but must conduct their audits, investigations, evaluations, and special reviews independently from their agencies. Approximately half of the 73 federal IGs are appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation, and approximately half are appointed by the agency head. IGs are nonpartisan and are selected without regard to political affiliations.

A copy of the Inspector General Act of 1978 is available here, and a directory of Inspectors General is available here. Additional information about the work of Inspectors General is available from CIGIE.

What is the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)?

CIGIE is a statutorily-created, independent entity within the executive branch. Congress established CIGIE to address integrity, economy, and effectiveness issues that transcend individual Federal Government agencies, and to aid in the establishment of a professional, well-trained, and highly skilled workforce in the Offices of Inspectors General. Learn more here.

What is on the site?

Oversight.gov aggregates public reports from Federal OIGs that are members of CIGIE. Each OIG also provides data associated with these reports for presentation on Oversight.gov. This data is described in detail below.

What data is presented on Oversight.gov, and how is it presented?

The data presented on Oversight.gov is uploaded to Oversight.gov by the OIGs. For definitions of the data presented on the site, please see the Oversight.gov Data Definitions.

What data is presented in the slideshows on the Home and Investigations pages?

The data presented in the slideshows on the Home and Investigations pages are from CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports the President, which present aggregate data about the annual accomplishments of Federal OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov directly by CIGIE upon publication of a new annual report.

What data is presented in the charts on the Home and Reports pages?

The data presented in the charts on the Home and Reports pages are from three sources:

·       CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports to the President, which present aggregate data about the annual accomplishments of Federal OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov directly by CIGIE upon publication of a new annual report.

·       OIGs’ Semiannual Reports, which present data about the semiannual accomplishments of individual OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov by each OIG.

·       Data from individual reports uploaded to Oversight.gov. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov by each OIG.

When presenting this data in the charts on the Home and Reports pages, Oversight.gov presents data from CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports to the President when that data is available. When it is not available, Oversight.gov presents an aggregation of the data uploaded by OIGs from their Semiannual Reports. For time periods for which no Semiannual Report is available from an OIG, or for information that is not contained in those Semiannual Reports, Oversight.gov presents an aggregation of data provided by OIGs from the individual reports those OIGs have uploaded to the site.

Because of this methodology, the information presented in the charts may change as new sources of data become available. Additionally, although CIGIE and the OIGs make every effort to ensure that the data presented on Oversight.gov is accurate, inadvertent errors or omissions may occur.

A note about information concerning OIG investigations

Many OIG investigations – including those that result in a criminal prosecution, civil action, or other public outcome – do not culminate in a public report by the OIG. Therefore, the scope of the OIGs’ investigative activity and accomplishments is not fully represented on Oversight.gov. For more information about each OIG’s investigative activity, please contact the OIG.

Questions and suggestions:

For questions, comments, and suggestions about reports available on Oversight.gov, please contact the OIG that is responsible for the report. A directory of OIGs is available here.

Participating OIGs

The OIGs from the following agencies are participating in Oversight.gov.

·       AbilityOne OIG

·       Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) OIG

·       Appalachian Regional Commission OIG

·       Architect of the Capitol OIG

·       Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System & Consumer Financial Protection Bureau OIG

·       Commodity Futures Trading Commission OIG

·       Consumer Product Safety Commission OIG

·       Corporation for National & Community Service OIG

·       Corporation for Public Broadcasting OIG

·       Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency

·       Denali Commission OIG

·       Department of Agriculture OIG

·       Department of Commerce OIG

·       Department of Defense OIG

·       Department of Education OIG

·       Department of Energy OIG

·       Department of Health & Human Services OIG

·       Department of Homeland Security OIG

·       Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG

·       Department of Justice OIG

·       Department of Labor OIG

·       Department of State and Broadcasting Board of Governors OIG

·       Department of the Interior OIG

·       Department of the Treasury OIG

·       Department of Transportation OIG

·       Department of Veterans Affairs OIG

·       Election Assistance Commission OIG

·       Environmental Protection Agency OIG

·       Equal Employment Opportunity Commission OIG

·       Export-Import Bank OIG

·       Farm Credit Administration OIG

·       Federal Communications Commission OIG

·       Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation OIG

·       Federal Election Commission OIG

·       Federal Housing Finance Agency OIG

·       Federal Labor Relations Authority OIG

·       Federal Maritime Commission OIG

·       Federal Trade Commission OIG

·       General Services Administration OIG

·       Government Accountability Office OIG

·       Government Publishing Office OIG

·       Intelligence Community OIG

·       International Trade Commission OIG

·       Legal Services Corporation OIG

·       Library of Congress OIG

·       National Aeronautics and Space Administration OIG

·       National Archives and Records Administration OIG

·       National Credit Union Administration OIG

·       National Endowment for the Arts OIG

·       National Endowment for the Humanities OIG

·       National Labor Relations Board OIG

·       National Science Foundation OIG

·       Nuclear Regulatory Commission OIG

·       Office of Personnel Management OIG

·       Peace Corps OIG

·       Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation OIG

·       Postal Regulatory Commission OIG

·       Railroad Retirement Board OIG

·       Securities and Exchange Commission OIG

·       Small Business Administration OIG

·       Smithsonian Institution OIG

·       Social Security Administration OIG

·       Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

·       Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program

·       Tennessee Valley Authority OIG

·       Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

·       U.S. Agency for International Development OIG

·        U.S. Postal Service OIG