{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-introduces-independent-acting-inspectors-general-act", "Congressman Cohen Introduces Independent Acting Inspectors General Act", "2025-07-22", "2025", "2025-07", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", "cohen", "https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Independent Acting Inspectors Generals Act aimed at insulating both permanent and acting inspectors general \u2013 appointed to investigate waste, fraud and abuse in their agencies and departments \u2013 from political interference.\n\nPresident Donald Trump fired inspectors general as one of his first acts in office. Federal inspectors general were created in 1978 to establish independent oversight of federal agencies.\n\nCongressman Cohen made the following statement:\n\n\u201cWith this Administration\u2019s staggering abuses and evident corruption, inspectors general are more important than ever. Donald Trump\u2019s attack on the IG system reveals his true intentions. He isn\u2019t interested in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse \u2013 what independent IGs are charged with doing. Rather, he wants to remove the independent IGs so he and his cronies can corrupt the agencies for their own purposes. Tru0ly independent IGs would shed light on those designs and potentially prevent corruption.\u201d\n\nThe Independent Acting Inspectors General Act would automatically make the Deputy IG the acting IG if the position is vacant. If both positions are vacant, the courts, rather than the President, will, with recommendations from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, appoint the acting IG. The President will no longer be able to fire \u201cthe cops on the beat\u201d and replace them with his cronies. Even if the position becomes vacant again, the appointment stays with the judiciary until a permanent IG, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, is sworn in.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T14:40:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-introduces-independent-acting-inspectors-general-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0457301288843155, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}