If President Joe Biden fulfills its intentions, an obscure government oversight body could cause significant stirs in the 2024 vote.
Cuffari oversees DHS, one of the most well-known government agencies, and has, among other things, looked into its problems with properly screening immigrants entering the country, how it handled the two assassination attempts against former president Donald Trump, and how it manages funds at the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA ).
The Council of the Inspectors General’s Integrity and Performance has also been looking into him for more than four times. The party, known as CIGIE, was created by Congress in 2008 to deliver monitoring of the president’s overseers, but presently stands accused of becoming a political professional weeding out IGs who step out of line.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL ) came to Cuffari’s defense after the report suggesting he be fired leaked. Gaetz called the report a” pond screed” and its creators a “panel of Biden-Harris officials,” citing political retribution for his handling of DHS, and warned Biden against following through with a fire.
In the letter addressed to Cuffari, Gaetz wrote,” Removing you may be politically suitable for those in authority, but Americans may view it as a dirty trick.” The blades are out for you, and you have separate control over the nerve center of the D.C. lake.
CIGIE’s 1, 000-page record accuses Cuffari of abusing his authority, spending practically$ 1.4 million in taxpayer money to check three people of his employees, and misleading Congress about his history during his 2019 verification process. Trump appointed Cuffari, and the Senate ratified him universally.
” The IC makes the following advice: referred for appropriate behavior, up to and including removal”, it reads.
Cuffari wo n’t be the first IG to leave this year.
In March, Biden fired former Railroad Retirement Board IG Martin Dickman in response to a CIGIE analysis, and in May, Social Security Administration Inspector General Gail Ennis resigned in the midst of a drawn-out CIGIE investigation into her business.
Some Democrats in Congress are then suggesting that Cuffari should do the same.
” In the wake of the independent and nonpartisan CIGIE Integrity Committee’s report documenting IG Cuffari’s misconduct, we call on President Biden to remove him as inspector general of DHS”, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS ) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) wrote in a joint statement.
However, some Republicans have questioned CIGIE, mainly given its claims of being impartial or independent. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA ) has campaigned for years to change the hiring and firing of inspectors general, and he has questioned the White House’s decision to fire Dickman.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ ) claimed in June that CIGIE has “weaponized their investigative process against Inspectors General who are out of step with the committee’s own desires and goals.”
Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY ) grilled CIGIE chairman Mark Greenblatt over allegations of politicization inside the organization and a lack of accountability among its members over the summer. She is also calling for changes, including those that may require the organization to report to Congress rather than the leader.
In June, James Read, Cuffari’s general counsel, filed a lawsuit against CIGIE in his own private capacity, alleging that Kimberly Howell, the chairwoman of the Integrity Committee and not a member of the federal government, had improper access to his information and unfair scrutiny.
The Justice Department argued in response that Howell is held responsible because she “operates subordinately to another Executive Branch people who are responsible to the President” and that CIGIE’s authority is “ultimately content to political control.”
But John Vecchione, an attorney who sued CIGIE last season, says the speech concedes that the party is never truly independent.
” It’s impartial when they want to escape accountability, but they’re under the leader when it’s fine for the Justice Department”, Vecchioine said. ” The entire Cuffari scandal demonstrates how destructive this institution is.”
Vecchione contends that the initial intention behind creating CIGIE 16 years ago was good, but he claims that it has since become a” Washington snake trap.”
Vecchione said,” I do n’t believe this would happen to him if Cuffari and the rest of them were inside the tent.” They are just as likely to abuse their authority as anyone else, as we’ve seen in this absolutely awful case.
Although the controversy has been simmering in secret for years, often far away from the front pages of newspapers, it might change if Biden follows through with the recommendation to fire Cuffari, particularly before Election Day.
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” Joe Biden and Kamala Harris cannot risk another disturbing statement about their failed guidelines coming out before the poll,” Hageman said. They are now attempting to fire the official who is looking into the social rival’s attempted assassination.
The White House has been in contact with The Washington Examiner to request reply.