Spending Money Congress Approved — Week of Dec 1, 2025

This week, Congress debated and introduced legislation responding to the mass firing of more than 20 federal Inspectors General in January 2025. During House debate on the HUD Transparency Act of 2025, Rep. Maxine Waters stated on the floor that the firings "violated lawful removal procedures" and that three-quarters of presidentially appointed Inspector General positions still lack Senate-confirmed leaders. Meanwhile, in the Senate, a bipartisan group of ten senators introduced a bill to expand the Department of Justice Inspector General's investigative powers, removing existing legal restrictions on what the DOJ IG can investigate.

This might matter because Inspectors General are the independent watchdogs Congress created to make sure federal agencies spend money properly and follow the law. If most of these positions remain without permanent, Senate-confirmed leaders nearly a year after mass dismissals, it could weaken Congress's ability to track whether the money it approved is actually being spent as intended—a core constitutional function.

There are important alternative explanations. The most likely is that the President has legal authority to remove Inspectors General and that confirmation delays are a normal part of the process, not a deliberate strategy to keep positions empty. It's also worth noting that the bills Congress is advancing—requiring IG testimony and expanding IG powers—could be seen as evidence that the system is self-correcting, with lawmakers actively strengthening oversight tools rather than losing ground.

Limitations: This analysis is based on two Congressional Record entries from a single week. The vacancy statistics cited come from floor speeches and have not been independently confirmed. This is AI-generated analysis, not a verified finding.