Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General

The United States Congress enacted the Inspector General Act of 1978 to ensure integrity and efficiency in government. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, established an Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Inspector General is appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation.

The Inspector General is responsible for conducting and supervising audits, investigations, and inspections relating to the programs and operations of the DHS. The OIG is to examine, evaluate and, where necessary, critique these operations and activities, recommending ways for the Department to carry out its responsibilities in the most effective, efficient, and economical manner possible.

The office's mission is "to serve as an independent and objective inspection, audit, and investigative body to promote effectiveness, efficiency, and economy in the Department of Homeland Security's programs and operations, and to prevent and detect fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and waste in such programs and operations."{{Cite web |title=About Us {{!}} Office of Inspector General |url=https://www.oig.dhs.gov/about |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.oig.dhs.gov}}

The Office of Inspector General is broken up into several OIG offices that perform specific responsibilities and are each headed by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) who are assisted by several Assistant Inspectors General (AIG).{{Cite web |title=Organization Chart {{!}} Office of Inspector General |url=https://www.oig.dhs.gov/about/organization_chart |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.oig.dhs.gov}}

• Clark Ervin (2003–2005)
• Richard Skinner (2005–2011){{Cite web|url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/budget/2011/01/skinner-retires-as-dhs-inspector-general/|title=Skinner retires as DHS inspector general|date=2011-01-14|website=Federal News Network|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2014/03/department-of-homeland-security-finally-has-permanent-ig/|title=Department of Homeland Security Finally Has a Permanent IG|last=Dennett|first=Lydia|date=2014-03-13|website=Project On Government Oversight|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-23}}
• Charles K. Edwards (acting) (2011–2013)
• John Roth (2014–2017){{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/06/terrorism-immigration-efforts-hampered-by-homeland-security-vacancies/|title=Terrorism, immigration efforts hampered by Homeland Security vacancies|last=Davidson|first=Joe|date=2019-05-06|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-10-23}}{{Cite press release|url=http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20131127-obama-chooses-john-roth-for-dhs-ig|title=DHS {{!}} Homeland Security Newswire|website=www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com|access-date=2019-03-08}}
• John V. Kelly (acting) (2017–2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting/house/109002/witnesses/HHRG-116-AP15-Bio-KellyJ-20190306.pdf|title=John V. Kelly|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=2019-10-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/people/2019/06/dhs-acting-inspector-general-resigns-earlier-than-expected-after-oig-pulled-13-feel-good-reports/|title=DHS acting inspector general resigns earlier than expected after office pulled 'feel good' reports|last=Heckman|first=Jory|date=2019-06-11|website=Federal News Network|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-23}}
• Joseph Cuffari (2019–present)

In addition, Jennifer L. Costello has claimed the role of Acting Inspector General of Homeland Security (2019).{{Cite web|url=https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2019-07/OIG-19-51-Jul19_.pdf|title=OIG-19-51 - Management Alert - DHS Needs to Address Dangerous Overcrowding|last=Costello|first=Jennifer|date=2 July 2019|access-date=19 July 2019}} Inspector General Cuffari has described this as Costello "falsely [holding] herself out as Acting Inspector General" from June 11 to July 25, 2019, in a letter describing that she is "no longer employed by the DHS Office of Inspector General".{{Cite web|url=https://static.politico.com/cd/1e/088d9d894c4f9e6cc305fcc2716b/committees-letter-costello-firing.pdf|last=Cuffari|first=Joseph|title=Inspector General Cuffari finds that a high-level official at DHS OIG falsely held herself out as Acting Inspector General in 2019|date=16 June 2020|access-date=3 February 2021}} Costello believes she "has been retaliated against for trying to denounce Cuffari’s mismanagement and wrongdoing."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/homeland-security-inspector-general-weakened/2020/03/17/c3269ea6-6309-11ea-912d-d98032ec8e25_story.html|last=Miroff|first=Nick|title=DHS inspector general's office nearly dormant under Trump as reports and audits plummet|newspaper=Washington Post|date=2020-03-18|access-date=3 February 2021}}

Charles K. Edwards, who served as acting DHS inspector general from 2011 through 2013 during the years of Barack Obama’s presidency, resigned in December 2013 following allegations of abuse of power, withholding documents, misspending of funds, nepotism, and making his staff do his homework for his Ph.D.{{Cite web|url=https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/former-acting-dhs-inspector-general-during-obama-years-indicted/|title=Former Obama Admin Acting DHS Inspector General Indicted on Theft, Fraud Charges|last=Naham|first=Matt|date=2020-03-06|website=lawandcrime.com|publisher=Law & Crime|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200306234315/https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/former-acting-dhs-inspector-general-during-obama-years-indicted/|archive-date=2020-03-06|access-date=2020-03-06}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/63859|title=DHS Inspector General Nominee Gets Warm Welcome in Senate|author=|date=|website=National Journal|accessdate=June 10, 2019}} It was also alleged that he routinely shared drinks and dinner with department leaders and gave them inside information about the timing and findings of investigations, according to the report from an oversight panel of the Homeland Security and Government Operations Committee.{{cite news|last=Leonnig|first=Carol D.|author-link=Carol D. Leonnig|title=Probe: DHS watchdog cozy with officials, altered reports as he sought top job|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/probe-dhs-watchdog-cozy-with-officials-altered-reports-as-he-sought-top-job/2014/04/23/b46a9366-c6ef-11e3-9f37-7ce307c56815_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post|date=2014-04-24}}

Claire McCaskill, chair of the FCO Subcommittee, stated in her report to the Senate: "The Subcommittee found that Mr. Edwards jeopardized the independence of the Office of the Inspector General and that he abused agency resources."{{cite web|title=US Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight|url=http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/fco/media/letter-and-staff-report-from-chairman-mccaskill-and-ranking-member-johnson-to-council-of-the-inspectors-general-on-integrity-and-efficiency|accessdate=2014-04-24}}

On March 6, 2020 Edwards was indicted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). A federal grand jury returned a 16-count indictment against Edwards, alleging he stole both proprietary software and confidential databases from the United States government, part of a scheme to defraud the government.{{Cite web|url=https://news.trust.org/item/20200306163145-s9jel/|title=Ex-inspector general at U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicted for stealing govt property|last=Lynch|first=Sarah N.|date=2020-03-06|website=news.trust.org|publisher=Reuters|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200306225322/https://news.trust.org/item/20200306163145-s9jel|archive-date=2020-03-06|access-date=2020-03-06}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-acting-inspector-general-us-department-homeland-security-indicted-theft-government|title=Former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Indicted on Theft of Government Property and Scheme to Defraud the United States Government|last=|first=|date=2020-03-06|website=www.justice.gov|publisher=United States Department of Justice|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200306220832/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-acting-inspector-general-us-department-homeland-security-indicted-theft-government|archive-date=2020-03-06|access-date=2020-03-06}}

On April 4, 2019, Sono Patel, a former federal technology manager with DHS-OIG, admitted to conspiring with a former acting inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, believed to be Charles K. Edwards, to steal a database managing more than 150,000 internal investigations and containing personal data of nearly 250,000 DHS employees.{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/01/18/privacy-incident-involving-dhs-oig-case-management-system-update|title=Privacy Incident Involving DHS OIG Case Management System (Update)|author=|date=January 18, 2018|website=Department of Homeland Security|accessdate=June 10, 2019}} From October 2014 until 2017, Patel admitted to using her position within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General to access and create copies of EDS’s source code, the investigative database used by DHS-OIG, and also containing personal identifying information of DHS and Postal Service employees, so as to provide to Edwards. Their intent was to develop a private, commercial version of EDS to sell back to the U.S. government.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/dhs-tech-manager-admits-stealing-data-on-150000-internal-investigations-nearly-250000-workers/2019/04/04/da053180-56eb-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html |title=DHS tech manager admits stealing data on 150,000 internal investigations, nearly 250,000 workers |date=2019-04-05 |orig-date=2019-04-04 |author1=Spencer S. Hsu |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}{{WaPoCheckDates}}

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Office of Inspector General

Homeland Security

Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight