Federal Executive Accountability Act of 2017

Federal Executive Accountability Act of 2017

This bill requires the President to appoint an Inspector General of the Executive Office of the President. Such Inspector General shall be under the authority, direction, and control of the President with respect to audits, investigations, or the issuance of subpoenas that require access to information concerning the identity of a confidential source, an intelligence or counterintelligence matter, and an undercover operation. The President may prohibit such Inspector General from carrying out any audit or investigation or issuing any subpoena upon determining that such prohibition is necessary to prevent the disclosure of any such information.

The bill amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to require the Inspector General established by this bill to include the following additional information in its required semiannual report to the head of its establishment:

• a description of corrective action completed on each significant recommendation;
• a certification of whether such Inspector General has had full and direct access to all information relevant to the performance of its functions;
• a description of any audit, inspection, or evaluation occurring during the reporting period in which such Inspector General could not obtain relevant information due to an exercise of presidential power; and
• any recommendations regarding efficiency in the administration of programs and operations undertaken by the President and the detection and elimination of fraud, waste, and abuse.

Such Inspector General shall carry out two evaluations of the Executive Office of the President to: (1) assess whether applicable classification procedures have been followed within such office; and (2) identify policies and procedures that may be contributing to persistent misclassification of material within such office.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov