5 U.S.C. § 404 — Duties and responsibilities

Page 37 TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES § 404 1 See References in Text note below. amendments made by this section, shall take effect with respect to that Inspector General position on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.’’ CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 117–263, div. E, title LII, § 5203(d), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3233, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in the amend- ment made by subsection (a) [adding subsec. (h) to sec- tion 3 of Pub. L. 95–452 (restated as this section), see Amendments Not Shown in Text note above] may be construed to limit the applicability of sections 3345 through 3349d of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998’), other than with respect to section 3345(a) of that title.’’ Pub. L. 110–409, § 6(c), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4305, as amended by Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(b)(5), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4343, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in the amendments made by this section [amending former sections 3 and 8G of Pub. L. 95–452, see 5 U.S.C. 403, 415] shall be con- strued to alter the duties and responsibilities of the counsel for any establishment or designated Federal entity, except for the availability of counsel as pro- vided under sections 403(g) and 415(g) of title 5, United States Code. The Counsel to the Inspector General shall perform such functions as the Inspector General may prescribe.’’ ACTING TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION Pub. L. 105–277, div. C, title I, § 101, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–584, as amended by Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(5) [title II, § 239(a)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–302; Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(b)(7), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4343, related to the appointment by the President of an Acting Treasury Inspector General for Tax Ad- ministration whose service was to conclude no later than Apr. 30, 1999. [Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(5) [title II, § 239(b)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–302, provided that the amendment made by subsection § 239(a) to section 101 of Pub. L. 105–277 was effective as if included in the enact- ment of Pub. L. 105–277.] § 404. Duties and responsibilities (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty and re- sponsibility of each Inspector General, with re- spect to the establishment within which the In- spector General’s Office is established— (1) to provide policy direction for and to con- duct, supervise, and coordinate audits and in- vestigations relating to the programs and op- erations of the establishment; (2) to review existing and proposed legisla- tion and regulations relating to programs and operations of the establishment and to make recommendations in the semiannual reports required by section 405(b) of this title con- cerning the impact of the legislation and regu- lations on the economy and efficiency in the administration of programs and operations ad- ministered or financed by the establishment, or the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in the programs and operations; (3) to recommend policies for, and to con- duct, supervise, or coordinate other activities carried out or financed by, the establishment for the purpose of promoting economy and ef- ficiency in the administration of, or pre- venting and detecting fraud and abuse in, its programs and operations; (4) to recommend policies for the establish- ment, and to conduct, supervise, or coordinate relationships between the establishment and other Federal agencies, State and local gov- ernmental agencies, and nongovernmental en- tities, with respect to— (A) all matters relating to the promotion of economy and efficiency in the administra- tion of, or the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in, programs and operations administered or financed by the establish- ment; or (B) the identification and prosecution of participants in fraud or abuse referred to in subparagraph (A); and (5) to keep the head of the establishment and Congress fully and currently informed, by means of the reports required by section 405 of this title and otherwise, concerning fraud and other serious problems, abuses, and defi- ciencies relating to the administration of pro- grams and operations administered or fi- nanced by the establishment, to recommend corrective action concerning the problems, abuses, and deficiencies, and to report on the progress made in implementing the corrective action. (b) STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the respon- sibilities specified in subsection (a)(1), each In- spector General shall— (A) comply with standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States for audits of Federal establishments, organizations, programs, activities, and functions; (B) establish guidelines for determining when it shall be appropriate to use non-Fed- eral auditors; and (C) take appropriate steps to ensure that any work performed by non-Federal auditors complies with the standards established by the Comptroller General as described in paragraph (1).1 (2) REVIEWS PERFORMED EXCLUSIVELY BY AUDIT ENTITIES IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—For purposes of determining compliance with para- graph (1)(A) with respect to whether internal quality controls are in place and operating and whether established audit standards, poli- cies, and procedures are being followed by Of- fices of Inspector General of establishments defined under section 401 of this title, Offices of Inspector General of designated Federal en- tities defined under section 415(a) of this title, and any audit office established within a Fed- eral entity defined under section 415(a) of this title, reviews shall be performed exclusively by an audit entity in the Federal Government, including the Government Accountability Of- fice or the Office of Inspector General of each establishment defined under section 401 of this title, or the Office of Inspector General of each designated Federal entity defined under sec- tion 415(a) of this title. (c) EFFECTIVE COORDINATION AND COOPERA- TION.—In carrying out the duties and respon- sibilities established under this chapter, each Inspector General shall give particular regard to the activities of the Comptroller General of the United States with a view toward avoiding du- Page 38 TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES § 405 plication and ensuring effective coordination and cooperation. (d) REPORTING VIOLATION OF FEDERAL CRIMI- NAL LAW.—In carrying out the duties and re- sponsibilities established under this chapter, each Inspector General shall report expedi- tiously to the Attorney General whenever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to be- lieve there has been a violation of Federal criminal law. (e) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTIVE AC- TIONS.— (1) SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS.—In carrying out the duties and responsibilities established under this chapter, whenever an Inspector General issues a recommendation for correc- tive action to the agency, the Inspector Gen- eral— (A) shall submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to— (i) the head of the establishment; (ii) the congressional committees of ju- risdiction; and (iii) if the recommendation for correc- tive action was initiated upon request by an individual or entity other than the In- spector General, that individual or entity; (B) may submit the document making a recommendation for corrective action to any Member of Congress upon request; and (C) not later than 3 days after the rec- ommendation for corrective action is sub- mitted in final form to the head of the estab- lishment, post the document making a rec- ommendation for corrective action on the website of the Office of Inspector General. (2) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorizing an Inspector General to publicly disclose information otherwise pro- hibited from disclosure by law. (Pub. L. 117–286, § 3(b), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4210.) AMENDMENTS NOT SHOWN IN TEXT This section was derived from section 4 of the Inspector General Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95–452, which was set out in the former Appendix to this title, and as it existed as of Oct. 19, 2021. Section 4 of Pub. L. 95–452 was amended by Pub. L. 117–263, div. E, title LII, § 5273(1), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3241, prior to being repealed and reenacted as this section by Pub. L. 117–286, §§ 3(b), 7, Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4210, 4361. For applicability of those amendments to this section, see section 5(b) of Pub. L. 117–286, set out in a Transitional and Savings Provisions note preceding section 101 of this title. Section 4 of Pub. L. 95–452 was amended in subsection (a)(2) as follows: (1) by inserting ‘‘, including’’ after ‘‘to make recommendations’’; and (2) by inserting a comma after ‘‘section 5(a)’’. The phrase ‘‘section 5(a)’’ did not appear in the text of subsection (a)(2) as enacted by Pub. L. 117–286 but was changed to ‘‘section 405(b) of this title’’. HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 404 ............. 5 U.S.C. App. (IGA § 4) Pub. L. 95–452, § 4, Oct. 12, 1978, 92 Stat. 1102; Pub. L. 100–504, title I, § 109, Oct. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 2529; Pub. L. 103–82, title II, § 202(g)(5)(A), Sept. 21, 1993, 107 Stat. 890; Pub. L. 108–271, § 8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814; Pub. L. 110–409, § 7(d)(1)(A), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4313; Pub. L. 114–317, §§ 4(d), 7(d)(2)(A), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1602, 1606 In subsection (a)(4) (matter before subparagraph (A)), the words ‘‘the establishment’’ are inserted after ‘‘to recommend policies for’’ and a comma is inserted after ‘‘and nongovernmental entities’’ for clarity. In subsection (b)(1)(C), the word ‘‘ensure’’ is sub- stituted for ‘‘assure’’ for clarity. In subsection (c), the word ‘‘ensuring’’ is substituted for ‘‘insuring’’ for clarity. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Paragraph (1), referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(C), means par. (1) of subsec. (b) of this section, but probably should be a reference to subpar. (A) of subsec. (b)(1) of this section. Prior to repeal and restatement as this section, subsec. (b)(1) of the source section had been re- designated as subsec. (b)(1)(A) by Pub. L. 100–504, title I, § 109(1), (2), Oct. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 2529, with no con- forming amendment to the reference, and the restated text carried over such reference without change.- § 405. Reports (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) DISALLOWED COST.—The term ‘‘disallowed cost’’ means a questioned cost that manage- ment, in a management decision, has sus- tained or agreed should not be charged to the Government. (2) FINAL ACTION.—The term ‘‘final action’’ means— (A) the completion of all actions that the management of an establishment has con- cluded, in its management decision, are nec- essary with respect to the findings and rec- ommendations included in an audit report; and (B) in the event that the management of an establishment concludes no action is nec- essary, final action occurs when a manage- ment decision has been made. (3) MANAGEMENT DECISION.—The term ‘‘man- agement decision’’ means the evaluation by the management of an establishment of the findings and recommendations included in an audit report and the issuance of a final deci- sion by management concerning its response to the findings and recommendations, includ- ing actions concluded to be necessary. (4) QUESTIONED COST.—The term ‘‘questioned cost’’ means a cost that is questioned by the Office because of— (A) an alleged violation of a provision of a law, regulation, contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement or document governing the expenditure of funds; (B) a finding that, at the time of the audit, the cost is not supported by adequate docu- mentation; or