From 1998 to 2001,Martin was the Special Counsel to the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice,and then Counsel from 2001 to 2003. He then served as Deputy Inspector General at the Department of Justice,before being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the NASA Inspector General on November 20,2009.[4] Martin described the balance between auditing and working with NASA as "sort of like straddling a barbed-wire fence." As NASA IG,Martin advocated for improved governance of information technology security standards at the agency.[6]
Advisory Notice and Termination as IG of USAID
Martin was terminated from his position as IG of USAID on February 11,2025 a day after releasing an Advisory Notice detailing how $489 million worth of food assistance was at risk of diversion and spoilage as a result of the suspension of USAID programs in response to Presidential Executive Order 14169.[7][8] Among other things,the Advisory Notice brought to light that the halt of funding to USAID would jeopardize lucrative,taxpayer funded,government contracts provided to farmers across the country that supply harvested crops that are sent overseas to feed the hungry. Politicians are looking to move this taxpayer funded program,that provides food to citizens of other countries at no cost,to the Department of Agriculture,instead of eliminating the program altogether,or figuring out how this excess food production capacity could be used to feed the hungry in the USA or reduce food price inflation.[9]
As Inspector General of USAID,Martin said on February 10,2025 that the dismantling of USAID had left oversight of $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid "largely nonoperational",also noting the impact of USAID's shutdown on its "capacity to disburse and safeguard its humanitarian assistance programming".[10] He was fired the next day,with no official reason given.[11] The Inspector General Act of 1978 requires that Congress be given 30 days of notice before inspectors general are fired;the law was amended in 2022 to further require a "substantive rationale,including detailed and case-specific reasons".[12][13]
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