Statement on the U.S. Senate Confirmation of Five Inspectors General
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Mark Lee Greenblatt on the U.S. Senate Confirmation of Five Inspectors General
Bethesda, MD, December 22, 2025 — The U.S. Senate last week confirmed five of President Trump’s nominees to serve as Inspectors General across some of the most consequential agencies in the federal government. Some of these nominations should have been an opportunity for our elected officials to reaffirm Congress’s commitment to independent oversight and accountability. Instead, taken together, the confirmations mark a troubling step backward for the independence and integrity of the Inspector General system.
These confirmations proceeded despite clear red flags, including ethical baggage, deeply partisan backgrounds, and prior advocacy for policy agendas in the very areas some of these individuals will now oversee. Under normal circumstances, any one of these concerns would be disqualifying and should have stopped some nominations in their tracks. Instead, the Senate chose to move forward.
Weakening the independence of Inspectors General erodes public trust, discourages whistleblowers, and leaves American taxpayers less protected from waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. At a moment when the Inspector General community is already facing unprecedented pressure, these confirmations send exactly the wrong message.
The confirmations of Thomas March Bell at the Department of Health and Human Services and Anthony D’Esposito at the Department of Labor are especially concerning. Inspectors General are not meant to be political actors or policy advocates. They are entrusted with one of the most important responsibilities in government: following the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor. That core principle of independence is now at risk.
IG oversight is consequential and not abstract. For example, the Labor Department IG’s office initiated a review of how the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects and reports economic data, including employment and price indexes. This work has direct implications for confidence in the U.S. economy, and BLS data underpin critical decisions by businesses, investors, and governments globally. Now, with a partisan IG overseeing that review, Americans will have to question the credibility of his findings on such a sensitive matter.
That is the opposite of what the American people should want in their Inspectors General. IGs should be the independent umpires fairly calling balls and strikes for the American people, not putting their thumb on the scale to help one administration or the other. Yet, Mr. Bell, the newly confirmed IG at the Department of Health and Human Services, told the Senate that he would use his office to support the Trump administration’s policy initiatives.
Last week’s confirmations accelerate the erosion of independent oversight in the IG community, and the cost will ultimately be borne by the American people.
Mark Lee Greenblatt is a former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Chair of the Council of Inspectors General, as well as the author of Valor: Unsung Heroes from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front (Rowman & Littlefield). More information about Greenblatt is available at www.markleegreenblatt.com.
###