Sen. Tammy Duckworth says the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel informed the agency’s independent watchdog that Secretary Kristi Noem asserts she can unilaterally stop its investigations, according to a letter the senator sent to Noem.
The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) exists to provide independent oversight of DHS programs and operations and to promote integrity, accountability and excellence within the department.
In a meeting with DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, Duckworth says she was told the DHS general counsel repeatedly “reminded” the OIG of Noem’s claimed authority to terminate investigations. The letter, obtained by NBC News, says the OIG was also asked on Jan. 29 to disclose “every active audit, inspection and criminal investigation,” a request Duckworth described as extremely unusual and possibly unprecedented.
Duckworth warned that such repeated, implicit threats from the Office of the Secretary could already have eroded the OIG’s operational independence. She pointed to what she called an “unusual lack of activity and engagement” in the days after the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents as possible evidence of that chill.
Former Interior Department Inspector General Mark Greenblatt noted the Inspector General Act of 1978 does include a narrow provision allowing a cabinet secretary to prohibit an inspector general from carrying out or completing an audit or investigation if doing so would harm national security. But Greenblatt, who has chaired the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and served as an IG, said in his experience that provision has never been invoked across the federal government.
The statute requires that if a secretary does stop an investigation, the decision and the rationale — including whether the inspector general agreed with the action — must be reported to Congress within 30 days. Greenblatt also said routinely notifying agency leaders about audits is normal, but alerting a cabinet secretary to ongoing criminal investigations is not. “The FBI doesn’t tell everyone what they are investigating in advance,” he said.
Separately, DHS OIG posted that it is conducting a review of the department’s immigration enforcement efforts to determine whether they follow federal law, adhere to DHS policy and protect civil rights. That review covers ICE hiring and training, safeguards to prevent the arrest of U.S. citizens, conditions at ICE detention facilities, and the deployment of Border Patrol agents in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the legal authority, noting the federal law that allows a secretary to limit IG work has existed for decades. “Senator Duckworth is arguing that a Senate-confirmed cabinet secretary shouldn’t use an existing section of federal law because she doesn’t think it should exist,” McLaughlin said, adding that if lawmakers object to the statute, Congress has the authority to change it.
(Reporting by Laura Strickler)