Nonprofit Calls on White House to Fill Vacant Guard Positions

With five months left in Biden’s term, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization has asked the president to ensure key oversight positions are filled.

Noah Bookbinder, president and CEO of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., in a letter sent Wednesday called on Biden to fill 14 inspector general vacancies at various federal agencies and nominate candidates for four of those positions.

Bookbinder praised Biden’s efforts to strengthen executive branch conduct rules and emphasized the importance of inspectors general in enforcing those efforts, particularly in the context of the February 2023 removal of Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton after the IG reported he misused federal vehicles by allowing family members to drive them for personal purposes.

“From day one, the Biden Administration has made ethical governance a priority, issuing an executive order requiring all executive branch appointees to sign ethics pledges that are designed to close the revolving door and prohibit gifts to lobbyists. At the same time, the Administration has worked hard to nominate and confirm qualified individuals to serve in ethics roles across the Executive Branch,” the letter reads.

“Unfortunately, there are currently several vacancies for Inspector General positions across the Executive Branch. As such, we encourage you to ensure that each Office of Inspector General has competent leadership, and to identify, nominate, and press for confirmation of a diverse slate of qualified individuals to fill all remaining Inspector General vacancies.”

According to oversight.gov, there are currently no candidates for the presidential inspector general position at NASA, the General Services Administration, the Social Security Administration, or the Railroad Retirement Board, with the GSA inspector general position remaining vacant for the longest time at 405 days.

Five other agencies do not require a presidential nomination to appoint their own inspector general but have not yet done so. They include the Election Assistance Commission, which has been empty for 137 days, and the Federal Election Commission, empty for 123 days.

Five more agencies have nominees but have not yet been confirmed by the Senate. They include the Treasury Department and AmeriCorps, whose nominees were selected 211 days ago.

Bookbinder also asked Biden to fill vacancies for designated ethics officer and deputy DAEO positions at several agencies to help enforce ethics laws and regulations.

“We call on you to direct your agency heads to prioritize appointing qualified individuals to fill these roles as part of a broader campaign to strengthen the ethical infrastructure of the executive branch and ensure that corruption, waste and mismanagement do not have a place in it,” he said.