Management Reports Issued (continued) - Office of Inspector ...

April 1, 2012 – September 30, 2012
Semiannual Report to the Congress
Under the Inspector General Act, we review
and comment on existing and proposed
legislation and regulations affecting DHS
programs and operations to foster economy and
effciency, and detect fraud, waste, and abuse.
We also participated on the Council of Inspectors
General on Integrity and Effciency (CIGIE),
which provides a means to comment on existing
and proposed legislation and regulations that have
government-wide impact and will participate in
DHS’ Regulatory Affairs Management System
(RAMS) Pilot Program Training.
During this reporting period, we reviewed more
than 100 legislative and regulatory proposals, draft
DHS policy directives, and other matters. For
example, we reviewed and provided comments
to the DHS management on two matters
summarized below.
DHS Delegation No. 19003 to the Offcer for
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) for
Matters Involving Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,
including Equal Employment Opportunity and
Workforce Diversity
We commented that nothing in this delegation is
intended to interfere with the statutory independence
of the Inspector General or the Inspector
General’s authority to investigate allegations of
misconduct, including allegations of civil rights
or civil liberties abuses, by DHS employees or
contractors.
Under the Inspector General Act 6 U.S.C. § 345;
and 42 U.S.C. § 2000ee-1, CRCL’s authority
to investigate allegations of civil rights and civil
liberties abuses by DHS employees and contractors
is subject to OIG’s right of first refusal to investigate
such allegations. The suggested language
makes this point clear in the delegation.
The Department’s Executive Offce and
Delegation Task Force accepted our comments
and recommended the Department Secretary’s
approval and signature.
DHS Directive No. 041-042: International
Affairs
The Directive sets forth the delegated authority,
policy, authorities, and responsibilities for
planning, coordinating, and managing international
affairs for the DHS. It is designed
to facilitate the Secretary’s leadership and
management of the Department’s activities
involving international affairs and does not
interfere with or inhibit the Offce of Inspector
General’s statutory authority. We commented
that Page 1, Section II.C.5. should be deleted and
replaced with the following language, “Interfere
with or inhibit the Offce of Inspector General’s
statutory authority.” The Department accepted
our comments, and the Department Secretary
signed the Directive on August 20, 2012.
DHS Management Directive No. 110-01 and
DHS Instruction No. 110-01-001: Privacy Policy
for Operational Use of Social Media
This Directive and Instruction were newly-issued
in 2012. They establish DHS privacy policy
involving DHS components’ operational use
of social media. DHS OIG provided extensive
comments on the proposed Directive and the
accompanying Instruction on matters involving
our equities as well as matters with DHS-wide
implications. We emphasized the importance of
ensuring that the Directive and Instruction did
not conflict with OIG’s statutory authority. Our
request that language to this effect be added to the
Directive was accepted, and this change, among
others, was incorporated into the final documents.
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