Trump administration resumes funding for inspectors general hub after previously blocking it

The Office of Management and Budget has restored funding to a central inspector general group, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said on Tuesday. 

The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency will receive nearly $4.3 million to operate through Jan. 30, which is when the funding agreement that ended the 43-day government shutdown expires. 

The Trump administration on Sept. 26 informed CIGIE — an independent entity tasked with assisting IG offices across agencies — that it would not be apportioned congressionally approved funding to it for fiscal 2026, which began in October. While that coincides with the start of the shutdown, the entity is supported by a no-year revolving account, so its operations would not have been affected by a lapse in appropriations. 

Grassley, a longtime IG defender, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pushed back on the administration’s decision in a Sept. 29 letter to OMB Director Russ Vought. 

OMB shortly thereafter apportioned $5 million to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, a part of CIGIE that investigates fraud in COVID-19 pandemic spending and was extended until 2034 in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House, however, in an October statement said that IGs “have become corrupt, partisan and in some cases, have lied to the public” and that “the American people will no longer be funding this corruption.”

Grassley and Collins welcomed the Trump administration’s reversal Tuesday to resume funding for CIGIE. 

“This action, building on OMB’s earlier decision to release funding for PRAC, ensures that these important oversight entities can remain focused on delivering the accountability American taxpayers deserve,” they said in a statement. “Our oversight of the administration’s actions, and CIGIE’s work, will continue.”

Grassley also said that OMB will conduct a “programmatic review” of CIGIE. 

The funding interruption impacted CIGIE’s congressionally authorized activities, which include providing training to IG employees and operating an oversight body that reviews allegations of wrongdoing against the watchdogs. At least 15 IG websites with whistleblower hotlines also went dark as a result of the funding disruption, because CIGIE runs a central Oversight.gov website that hosts the websites for 28 IG offices. 

In response, many watchdog offices set up new, temporary websites, and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee stood up their own online presence to house hotlines.

As of Tuesday afternoon, both the CIGIE website and Oversight.gov — which hosts more than 34,000 IG reports — were back up. The websites of several of the affected watchdog offices are still temporary sites set up to house complaint portals, while a few appear to be fully functioning again. 

OMB did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

Trump has, so far, fired 19 IGs and replaced acting IGs at five agencies. Good government groups have warned that these removals are weakening independent government oversight.