About Oversight.gov
What is Oversight.gov?
Oversight.gov was created by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to consolidate in one place all public reports from Federal Inspectors General (IGs) in order to improve the public’s access to independent and authoritative information about the Federal Government. The site includes a publicly accessible, text searchable repository of reports published by IGs.
The reports appearing on Oversight.gov, as well as the data associated with them, have been posted directly to the site by the IG that issued it. CIGIE operates and maintains the site. Reports on Oversight.gov can also be accessed through the websites of the individual Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs).
What are Inspectors General?
Under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, the role of federal IGs is to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse relating to their agency’s programs and operations, and to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the agency’s operations and programs.
OIGs are located within their agencies but must conduct their audits, investigations, evaluations, and special reviews independently from their agencies. Approximately half of the 73 federal IGs are appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation, and approximately half are appointed by the agency head. IGs are nonpartisan and are selected without regard to political affiliations.
A copy of the Inspector General Act of 1978 is available here, and a directory of Inspectors General is available here. Additional information about the work of Inspectors General is available from CIGIE.
What is the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)?
CIGIE is a statutorily-created, independent entity within the executive branch. Congress established CIGIE to address integrity, economy, and effectiveness issues that transcend individual Federal Government agencies, and to aid in the establishment of a professional, well-trained, and highly skilled workforce in the Offices of Inspectors General. Learn more here.
What is on the site?
Oversight.gov aggregates public reports from Federal OIGs that are members of CIGIE. Each OIG also provides data associated with these reports for presentation on Oversight.gov. This data is described in detail below.
What data is presented on Oversight.gov, and how is it presented?
The data presented on Oversight.gov is uploaded to Oversight.gov by the OIGs. For definitions of the data presented on the site, please see the Oversight.gov Data Definitions.
What data is presented in the slideshows on the Home and Investigations pages?
The data presented in the slideshows on the Home and Investigations pages are from CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports to the President, which present aggregate data about the annual accomplishments of Federal OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov directly by CIGIE upon publication of a new annual report.
What data is presented in the charts on the Home and Reports pages?
The data presented in the charts on the Home and Reports pages are from three sources:
- CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports to the President, which present aggregate data about the annual accomplishments of Federal OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov directly by CIGIE upon publication of a new annual report.
- OIGs’ Semiannual Reports, which present data about the semiannual accomplishments of individual OIGs. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov by each OIG.
- Data from individual reports uploaded to Oversight.gov. This data is uploaded to Oversight.gov by each OIG.
When presenting this data in the charts on the Home and Reports pages, Oversight.gov presents data from CIGIE’s Annual Progress Reports to the President when that data is available. When it is not available, Oversight.gov presents an aggregation of the data uploaded by OIGs from their Semiannual Reports. For time periods for which no Semiannual Report is available from an OIG, or for information that is not contained in those Semiannual Reports, Oversight.gov presents an aggregation of data provided by OIGs from the individual reports those OIGs have uploaded to the site.
Because of this methodology, the information presented in the charts may change as new sources of data become available. Additionally, although CIGIE and the OIGs make every effort to ensure that the data presented on Oversight.gov is accurate, inadvertent errors or omissions may occur.
Which reports are listed as “Trending” on the Home page?
“Trending” reports are those reports that Oversight.gov visitors viewed most often in the last seven days.
A note about information concerning OIG investigations
Many OIG investigations – including those that result in a criminal prosecution, civil action, or other public outcome – do not culminate in a public report by the OIG. Therefore, the scope of the OIGs’ investigative activity and accomplishments is not fully represented on Oversight.gov. For more information about each OIG’s investigative activity, please contact the OIG.
What are the future plans for Oversight.gov?
In FY2019, Congress provided CIGIE with $2 million to further enhance the capabilities of Oversight.gov. Pub. L. No. 116-6, § 633. For details about CIGIE’s plans for this money and the enhancements that will result, please see CIGIE’s Oversight.Gov Enhancements Spending Plan.
Questions, Suggestions and Additional Resources:
For questions, comments, and suggestions about reports available on Oversight.gov, please contact the OIG that is responsible for the report. A directory of OIGs is available here.
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