'Growing Concern' Over 'Interdependence' Between FCC IG, Chairman, House Republicans Warn

“There is growing concern that because the FCC Inspector General is appointed by, reports to, and is under the general supervision of the Chairman of the Commission that the IG is not free to provide the honest and independent criticism that is critical to the performance of the IG’s oversight,” wrote House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in a joint letter, seeking “information necessary to understand the practical and working relationship between the Office of the Chairman and the Inspector General.” Those offices’ “growing interdependence” is “eroding the public’s trust,” Upton and Walden said.

The legislators cited “particularly concerning” incidents. Drafts of audits and reports “may be shared with the Chairman’s office before being finalized,” a concern based on “materials provided to the Committee,” and FCC human resources “inserted itself into hiring decisions” in the IG office, they said. They slammed the lack of OIG audit reports on the FCC website. Walden and Upton pressed Hunt on what mechanisms are in place to ensure OIG independence, its budget and the role of the FCC managing director’s and chairman’s offices in that process. They asked what role the chairman’s office and the bureaus play in the draft audits and reports and the procedures the IG has for posting that information on the FCC website. They also requested communications records on some of those topics from 2012 to the present.

“We look forward to responding to Chairman Upton’s and Chairman Walden’s request for information,” Hunt told us. The chairman’s office declines comment, an agency spokeswoman said.

Republican legislators have considered tweaking the role of the FCC IG before. Upton and Walden invoked the House Commerce Republicans’ abandoned FCC reauthorization draft from 2015 that would have provided an independent IG. The Senate Commerce Committee’s FCC Reauthorization Act (S-2644), unanimously approved by committee earlier this year and now awaiting floor action, includes a provision that would require the IG to concurrently submit its semi-annual reports to the FCC and Congress.

“All FCC IGs, since the post was created about 25 years ago, have been FCC employees who were promoted,” said Michael Marcus, former FCC engineer and current spectrum consultant. “Most, if not all, were cronies of the eighth floor.” He urged House Commerce lawmakers “to pressure FCC to appoint a new IG who is a career IG staffer in a major agency or from GAO” and cautioned against “political hacks.” Marcus told us he guessed that 90 percent of OIG effort is spent on USF and emphasized the difficulty of acquiring certain IG investigations, such as an unannounced report on pornography from 2013. The Freedom of Information Act is typically the measure required to access such IG reporting, but the information should be available more readily, Marcus said.

“I'm glad to see the Committee is examining the way the IG operates at the Commission and whether there needs to be further insulation from the Chairman,” emailed Free State Foundation President Randolph May. He also questioned the conclusions that OIG reached in its Lifeline leak investigation. “I have a problem with the Inspector General’s report that goes to the way the Commission functions as an institution and the agency’s institutional integrity,” May said in a blog post Friday, saying the report “perpetuates the incorrect notion that the FCC Chairman somehow broadly possesses the power to authorize leaks of non-public information.” May called the interpretation of the relevant statute “a real stretch” and said he believes “the leak of the Lifeline compromise required the approval of full Commission,” which wasn't granted.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees separately released a report Monday backing empowering IGs across the board. The FCC has 149 open and unimplemented IG recommendations with a total potential cost saving of $5.2 million, the Senate GOP report appendix said. The FTC had 11 such recommendations with a total potential savings of zero dollars.

“My colleagues on the Appropriations Committees should cut the funding allocated to these agencies by the amount of the waste, given that the agencies could function effectively at a lower funding level by simply implementing the Inspector General recommendations,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he plans to keep fighting for legislation. He and Grassley have pressed for passage of the IG Empowerment Act (S-579/HR-2395), which Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blocked on the chamber floor. The House approved a companion version by voice vote in June. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., prioritized the strengthening of IGs as part of his “Better Way” policy agenda for 2017.