Agency Oversight

OMB reverses course on defunding CIGIE

OMB has released funding for CIGIE through Jan. 30, while it also conducts a “programmatic review” of the council.

November 18, 2025 5:49 pm

3 min read

The Office of Management and Budget has released some funding for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, after an earlier decision to effectively defund CIGIE led to the shuttering of multiple Office of Inspector General websites.

OMB apportioned just under $4.3 million for CIGIE, according to an announcement from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). The pair of senators had pushed OMB to release funding for CIGIE and the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

“We are pleased that following our continued outreach, OMB is releasing the funding that Congress provided for CIGIE to continue its vital work,” Grassley and Collins said. “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. Our oversight of the administration’s actions, and CIGIE’s work, will continue.”

Grassley and Collins added that the funding will last CIGIE through Jan. 30. OMB is also conducting a “programmatic review of CIGIE’s activities,” they said.

OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post first reported on the funding decision.

In late September, OMB decided not to apportion funding for CIGIE in fiscal 2026, despite funds being available through the shutdown. Tammy Hull, the acting chairwoman of CIGIE, informed lawmakers of OMB’s decision, warning that the shuttering of the council would “result in the loss of shared services and cost-efficiencies” that support 72 offices of inspectors general across government.

On Oct. 1, multiple agency IG websites went offline due to the funding decision. CIGIE provides hotline capability and website services for 28 OIGs through Oversight.gov.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Oversight.gov was back online after being down for nearly seven weeks.

Congress created CIGIE in 2008 to professionalize the IG community. In addition to providing web and hotline services, CIGIE also conducts training, develops quality standards, and serves as an accountability function within the OIG community through its Integrity Committee.

But Trump administration officials have accused IGs of corruption, without offering evidence.

“Inspectors general are meant to be impartial watchdogs identifying waste and corruption on behalf of the American people,” OMB spokesman Armen Tooloee said in September regarding the original decision to defund CIGIE. “Unfortunately, they have become corrupt, partisan, and in some cases, have lied to the public. The American people will no longer be funding this corruption.”

President Donald Trump fired 17 IGs at the outset of his second term, in a move a federal judge later ruled to be illegal because he didn’t provide the required notification to Congress.

CIGIE in the recent past has also drawn the ire of conservative groups that view it as part of the “administrative state.” In a 2023 lawsuit, lawyers for Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari argued that CIGIE’s Integrity Committee was “a threat to the Constitution.” The Integrity Committee was investigating Cuffari’s actions as IG, including his handling of a review into deleted Secret Service texts from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.