Inspector Generals (IGs) of government agencies are supposed to be junk-yard dogs in their fierceness and independence. They investigate things and report to the public. It is a useful institution, generally.
But something came over the Internet yesterday morning that puts the independence of the Department of Homeland Security's IG in question.
The IG issued a report on the Transportation Security Administration's management of something called the "Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques". It is supposed to help TSA prevent bad guys from boarding planes and causing problems.
I have no bias for or against this program, which is a big one; it involves 2,800 full-time positions and a yearly expenditure of $878 million, according to the IG.
The morning press release, one-page, included this line:
As a result, TSA cannot ensure that passengers at U.S. airports are screened objectively, show that the program is cost-effective, or reasonably justify the program's expansion.
In the afternoon an "Amended Summary" appeared, much like the morning document except that the devastating sentence quoted above was missing.
My concern, even though this is not exactly an immigration issue, is that it appears that somebody in DHS put the screws to the IG and forced him to drop that nice, succinct summary from the press release. I would hope that the IG, particularly in that department, would be strong and independent.
I worry that that is no longer true, though there have been some highly useful DHS-IG reports in the past.
The morning press release is here and the afternoon one is here.
