119-hr4587

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4587 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4587

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a judge on the 
 appropriate court of appeals of the United States to appoint certain 
 acting Inspectors General in the event of a vacancy, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 22, 2025

 Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to require a judge on the 
 appropriate court of appeals of the United States to appoint certain 
 acting Inspectors General in the event of a vacancy, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Independent Acting IGs Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. VACANCY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL POSITIONS.

    (a) Amendments.--

Section 403

    (h) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1)
        (A) --
        (A) in clause
            (i) 
            (I) , by inserting ``for at least 
 180 of the proceeding 365 days'' after ``that Office''; 
 and
        (B) in clause
            (ii) --
            (i) in subclause
            (I) , by inserting ``if the 
 Principal Deputy Inspector General of that 
 Office has been serving in that position for at 
 least 180 of the proceeding 365 days'' after 
 ``of that position''; and
            (ii) in subclause
            (II) , by inserting ``if 
 the Deputy Inspector General of that Office has 
 been serving in that position for at least 180 
 of the proceeding 365 days'' after ``of that 
 position'';

    (2) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking subparagraph
            (C) and 
 inserting the following:
 ``
            (C) if an Inspector General position that 
 requires appointment by the President by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Senate to be filled is 
 vacant, the first assistant to the position of 
 Inspector General shall serve as the acting Inspector 
 General; and
 ``
            (D) if the first assistant to the position of 
 Inspector General is vacant or the first assistant to 
 the position of Inspector General is unable or 
 unavailable or declines to serve as acting Inspector 
 General, an individual shall be appointed in accordance 
 with paragraph

    (5) to serve as acting Inspector 
 General.''; and

    (3) by striking paragraph

    (5) and inserting the following:
 ``

    (5) The process by which an individual shall be appointed 
 pursuant to paragraph

    (2)
            (D) as the individual to perform the 
 functions and duties of the Inspector General temporarily in an 
 acting capacity subject to the time limitations of 

section 3346 
 of title 5 (in this paragraph referred to as the `acting 
 Inspector General'), is as follows:
 ``
        (A) A judge, selected at random from the court of 
 appeals for the circuit within which the headquarters 
 of the Office of the Inspector General is located by 
 the chief judge of such court of appeals, shall appoint 
 the acting Inspector General in accordance with 
 subparagraph
            (D) .
 ``
        (B) Not later than 14 days after the date on 
 which an Inspector General position becomes vacant as a 
 result of vacancy in the first assistant position as 
 described in paragraph

    (2)
            (D) , the Chairperson of the 
 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 
 Efficiency shall convene a committee of 3 Inspectors 
 General who are members of the Chairperson of the 
 Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 
 Efficiency, and the committee shall recommend to the 
 judge selected under subparagraph
        (A) to appoint the 
 acting Inspector General not fewer than 2 candidates to 
 serve as the acting Inspector General.
 ``
            (C) Not later than 14 days after the date on 
 which the committee is convened under subparagraph
        (B) , 
 the committee shall submit a list of the recommended 
 candidates to the judge selected under subparagraph
        (A) .
 ``
            (D) Not later than 14 days after the date on 
 which the judge receives the list of the recommended 
 candidates, the judge shall appoint the acting 
 Inspector General.
 ``
        (E) The judge has the sole authority to appoint 
 an individual to carry out the duties of the relevant 
 office until the vacancy is filled.''.

    (b) Authorization.--Notwithstanding 

section 3347 of title 5, United 
States Code, in the event of a vacancy for a position of Inspector 
General, 

section 403

    (h) of such title, as amended by this Act, shall 
apply.
            (c) Technical Amendment.--

    (1) In general.--

Section 3

    (a)

    (2)
            (C) of H.R. 7326, as passed 
 by the House of Representatives on December 3, 2024, shall have 
 the force and effect of law.

    (2) Effective date.--This subsection shall take effect 
 before the amendments made by subsection

    (a) .
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