Inspector General of the Department of State

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Inspector General of the
United States Department of State
Seal of the United States Department of State Office of Inspector General.svg
Seal of the Office of Inspector General
Cardell K. Richardson, State IG.jpg
since May 20, 2024 [1]
Reports to United States Secretary of State
Inaugural holder Raymond C. Miller
Formation1957
Website Official website

The Inspector General of the Department of State heads the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State and is responsible for detecting and investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the United States Department of State. In the department, the Inspector General has a rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State. [2] [3]

Contents

List of Inspectors General of the Department of State

#NameAssumed officeLeft office President served under
1 Raymond C. Miller November 19, 1957October 31, 1960 Dwight D. Eisenhower
2 Gerald A. Drew November 13, 1960May 31, 1962 Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
3 Norris S. Haselton June 10, 1962July 31, 1964 John F. Kennedy
4 Fraser Wilkins July 23, 1964August 8, 1971 John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon
5 Thomas W. McElhiney July 1, 1971July 18, 1973 Richard Nixon
6 James S. Sutterlin October 15, 1973August 31, 1974 Richard Nixon
- Robert L. Yost
(acting)
August 31, 1974April 16, 1975 Gerald Ford
7 William E. Schaufele, Jr. April 16, 1975November 29, 1975 Gerald Ford
8 Robert M. Sayre November 25, 1975May 1, 1978 Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
- Brandon Grove
(acting)
May 1, 1978July 5, 1978 Jimmy Carter
9 Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. July 5, 1978October 16, 1978 Jimmy Carter
10 Robert C. Brewster January 15, 1979January 18, 1981 Jimmy Carter
11 Robert Lyle Brown July 7, 1981June 30, 1983 Ronald Reagan
12 William Caldwell Harrop December 12, 1983August 27, 1986 Ronald Reagan
- Byron Hollingsworth
(acting)
August 27, 1986August 14, 1987 Ronald Reagan
13 Sherman M. Funk August 14, 1987February 15, 1994 Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton
- Roscoe S. Suddarth
(acting)
February 15, 1994June 12, 1994 Bill Clinton
- Harold W. Geisel
(acting)
June 12, 1994April 7, 1995 Bill Clinton
14Jacquelyn L. Williams-BridgersApril 7, 1995January 31, 2001 Bill Clinton
- Anne Marie Sigmund
(acting)
February 4, 2001August 3, 2001 George W. Bush
- Clark Ervin
(acting)
August 3, 2001January 23, 2003 George W. Bush
- Anne Marie Sigmund
(acting)
January 24, 2003September 28, 2003 George W. Bush
- Anne W. Patterson
(acting)
September 28, 2003August 3, 2004 George W. Bush
- John E. Lange
(acting)
August 3, 2004August 23, 2004 George W.Bush
- Cameron R. Hume
(acting)
August 23, 2004May 2, 2005 George W. Bush
15 Howard Krongard May 2, 2005January 15, 2008 George W. Bush
- William E. Todd
(acting)
January 15, 2008June 2, 2008 George W. Bush
- Harold W. Geisel
(acting)
June 2, 2008 [4] September 30, 2013 George W. Bush and Barack Obama
16 Steve A. Linick September 30, 2013 [5] May 15, 2020 [6] Barack Obama and Donald Trump
- Stephen Akard
(acting)
May 15, 2020August 7, 2020 [7] Donald Trump
- Diana Shaw
(acting)
August 7, 2020August 31, 2020Donald Trump
- Matthew Klimow
(acting)
August 31, 2020December 11, 2020 [8] Donald Trump
- Diana Shaw
(acting)
December 11, 2020April 5, 2024Donald Trump and Joe Biden
- Sandra J. Lewis
(acting)
April 5, 2024May 20, 2024Joe Biden
17 Cardell K. Richardson May 20, 2024IncumbentJoe Biden

Obama and Trump administrations

Harold W. Geisel served as acting Inspector General during Hillary Clinton's service as Secretary of State., which lasted until February 1, 2013. [9] There was no permanent Inspector General at the State Department while Clinton was Secretary, nor did President Barack Obama nominate anyone for that position. [10] Later in 2013, Obama nominated Steve A. Linick, and the Senate confirmed Linick to the role.

Linick served as Inspector General for the balance of Obama's term, continuing into the presidency of Donald Trump. On Friday, May 15, 2020 at 10 p.m., the White House announced that Linick had been removed. [11] The White House said Trump had dismissed Linick at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Linick had been conducting several investigations into actions by Pompeo. [12] [13] [14] Trump appointed Stephen Akard, who was concurrently serving as the director of the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions, as acting Inspector General. [15] Akard served as acting Inspector General less than three months before resigning. [16] Deputy Inspector General Diana Shaw then became acting Inspector General. [17]

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References

  1. https://www.stateoig.gov/about/meet-the-ig [ bare URL ]
  2. "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  3. "Department Organization Chart". March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  4. "Harold W. Geisel". U.S. Department of State Archive. June 19, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. "Steve A. Linick, Inspector General". U.S. Department of State. September 30, 2013. Archived from the original on June 1, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  6. McGraw, Meridith; Toosi, Nahal (May 15, 2020). "Trump ousts State Department watchdog". POLITICO. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  7. Hudson, John (August 5, 2020). "State Department watchdog resigns in another shake-up at IG's office". Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  8. "State Department watchdog steps down after Pompeo rails at report on investigation into wife's travel". www.msn.com. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  9. Cohen, Tom (February 1, 2013). "Clinton's farewell marred by embassy bombing". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  10. Tau, Byron and Nicholas, Peter. "State Department Lacked Top Watchdog During Hillary Clinton Tenure", Wall Street Journal (March 24, 2015).
  11. Blake, Aaron (May 18, 2020). "Trump's slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  12. Kimball, Spencer (May 16, 2020). "Mike Pompeo recommended Trump firing of State Department inspector general, White House says". CNBC . Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  13. Wong, Edward; Sanger, David E. (May 19, 2020). "State Dept. Investigator Fired by Trump Had Examined Weapons Sales to Saudis and Emiratis". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  14. "Pompeo's elite taxpayer-funded dinners raise new concerns". NBC News. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  15. Toosi, Nahal (June 23, 2020). "Acting watchdog recuses himself from 2 Pompeo probes". Politico. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  16. Atwood, Kylie; Hansler, Jennifer (August 5, 2020). "Acting State Department watchdog resigns months after previous inspector general was fired". CNN. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  17. Hudson, John (August 2, 2020). "State Department watchdog resigns in another shake-up at IG's office". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 6, 2020.