Cite as: 527 U. S. 229 (1999)
Thomas, J., dissenting
the Administrator may not prevent the report from going to Congress and may not change or order the Inspector General to change his report. Moreover, the Inspector General must notify the Attorney General directly, without notice to other agency officials, upon discovery of "reasonable grounds to believe there has been a violation of Federal criminal law." § 4(d).
As a practical matter, the Inspector General's independence from agency management is understood by Members of Congress and Executive Branch officials alike. This understanding was on display at the recent congressional hearing on the occasion of the Inspector General Act's 20th anniversary. For example, Senator Thompson, Chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, stated that "[t]he overarching question we need to explore is whether the Executive Branch is providing IGs with support and attention adequate to ensure their independence and effectiveness." Hearings on "The Inspector General Act: 20 Years Later" before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 105th Cong., 2d Sess., 2 (1998). He further explained that "[t]he IGs . . . are paid to give [Congress] an independent and objective version [of] events." Ibid. Senator Glenn, then the ranking minority member, opined that "the IG's first responsibility continues to be program and fiscal integrity; they are not 'tools' of management." Id., at 7.
At those hearings, testimony was received from several Inspectors General. June Gibbs Brown, the Inspector General for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, praised Secretary Shalala for "never, not even once, [seeking] to encroach on [her] independence." Id., at 4. In her written testimony, she offered: "A key component of OIG independence is our direct communication with the Members and staff of the Congress. Frankly, I suspect that no agency head relishes the fact that IGs have, by law, an independent relationship with oversight Committees. Information can and must go directly from the Inspectors Gen-
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