President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

According to a September 23, 2022, letter to president Biden from DHS OIG employees, “His actions embarrass the entire agency,” and “The missions of DHS and the OIG are too important to remain in the hands of IG Cuffari and his front office.”10 The letter was signed by “concerned DHS OIG employees representing every program office at every grade level” and noted that the individuals behind the let. [...] Secretary Mayorkas directed the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Office of the General Counsel to conduct a 30-day review of the policies for electronic message retention, which again underscores the fact that federal agencies might respond once they are informed of an issue or after it receives heightened public scrutiny, and also why IGs should alert Congress when they encounter s. [...] Allowing DHS IG Cuffari to remain in his post contributes to a culture of systemic impunity and misconduct at DHS, and threatens to undermine the integrity of the entire IG system by tacitly approving of this kind of job performance. [...] One of the whistleblowers’ claims against Ennis was substantiated by a judge at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSBP) and the other settled with Ennis’ office, after which she was returned to work.15 Whistleblower retaliation is a particularly grievous offense, as the SSA Office of the Inspector General is one of the primary entities tasked with strengthening whistleblower protections at the d. [...] We strongly believe that the oversight system as conceived in the Inspector General Act of 1978 only works in the best interests of the American people if inspectors general themselves are held to the highest standards of accountability.