{"id":35,"date":"2026-05-25T21:15:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=35"},"modified":"2026-05-25T21:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:15:37","slug":"newest-inspector-general-nominees-show-shift-from-overtly-political-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Newest inspector general nominees show shift from overtly political backgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On one of the first days of his second term, Donald Trump fired 17 agency inspectors general. And most of the president\u2019s picks who have been confirmed to lead the watchdog offices previously worked in his first or second administration, raising concerns from good government groups about their ability to perform independent oversight of federal programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more USDA is using AI, but doesn\u2019t have the required controls to manage risks, watchdog finds<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s latest IG nominees, however, generally have experience working in an IG office and appear to be more typical picks for the nonpartisan watchdog role.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justice Department\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump nominated Don Berthiaume, a career IG employee, to lead the DOJ IG office, where he is currently serving as a senior advisor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The president tapped Berthiaume as the acting IG at DOJ from October 2025 through January 2026, but his tenure was cut short by rules that limit how long an individual can serve in an acting position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Specifically, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act . The position at DOJ opened up in June 2025 when former DOJ IG Michael Horowitz left to become the IG for the Federal Reserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The deputy DOJ IG, William Blier, is currently performing the duties of the IG.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If confirmed, Berthiaume will face several politically sensitive challenges. Lawyers for a DOJ whistleblower in March accused the IG office of not investigating multiple misconduct allegations. And the DOJ watchdog in April announced that it would audit the department\u2019s compliance with the law mandating the release of government files related to the deceased sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Mark Lee Greenblatt \u2014\u00a0former Interior Department IG who was fired by Trump and who has been critical of the president\u2019s IG selections \u2014\u00a0praised Berthiaume\u2019s nomination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience of working literally next to [Berthiaume] for years on very sensitive political cases, he showed to me that he is a straight shooter,\u201d Greenblatt said. \u201cWhen compared with some of the IG nominees that President Trump has put forward in other significant positions, this [nomination] is \u2014 from my perspective \u2014 a home run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education Department<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like Berthiaume, Trump\u2019s pick to serve as Education IG \u2014\u00a0Heidi Semann \u2014\u00a0comes from the IG community and had a stint as acting IG.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Nuclear waste oversight at risk as staffing vacancies mount, watchdog warns<\/a><\/p>\n

The president in July 2025 replaced acting Education IG Ren\u00e9 Rocque, who is also the office\u2019s deputy, with Semann. The swap came after Rocque notified Congress that investigators had \u201cexperienced unreasonable denials and repeated delays\u201d from the department during an investigation into the administration\u2019s workforce reductions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December 2025, however, Semann\u2019s tenure as acting IG ended, and . A spokesperson for the Education OIG confirmed to Government Executive <\/em>that this was due to time limits on acting officials in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark Priebe, who replaced Semann as acting and is still in the position, was a senior official in the Education OIG who appears to have shared social media posts supporting Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, Greenblatt argued that Semann, given her oversight experience, is a \u201cmarked improvement\u201d from Trump\u2019s past IG nominees. But he still has some concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe seems to be having this meteoric rise from obscurity to an incredibly important sensitive role, so I think that does raise a question in my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cBut since she\u2019s coming from the OIG community, and with an oversight background, then hopefully she is coming to this position with that fair, objective and independent mindset.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Housing and Urban Development Department\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of April, Trump nominated Jeffrey Ledbetter of Virginia to be IG at HUD. Neither the White House, the HUD OIG or Republicans or Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, where his nomination has been referred, responded to a request to confirm who Ledbetter is or otherwise provide biographical information.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The president had selected Jeremy Ellis, who has more than two decades of investigative experience, as his HUD IG nominee, but that nomination was withdrawn in September 2025.<\/p>\n

Read more EPA\u2019s restructuring could change who shapes chemical risk decisions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least two of the president\u2019s three most recent IG nominees have experience working in an IG office. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oversight"],"yoast_head":"\nNewest inspector general nominees show shift from overtly political backgrounds - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=35\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newest inspector general nominees show shift from overtly political backgrounds - Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At least two of the president\u2019s three most recent IG nominees have experience working in an IG office.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=35\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T21:15:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/eddbb3b9a5f1ed1bbbb8e98c50d429f0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19c060c848a41baec5bd9c5b313f46d9\"},\"headline\":\"Newest inspector general nominees show shift from overtly political backgrounds\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T21:15:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35\"},\"wordCount\":688,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/eddbb3b9a5f1ed1bbbb8e98c50d429f0.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Oversight\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/marketrelocationreport.com\\\/?p=35\",\"name\":\"Newest inspector general nominees show shift from overtly political backgrounds - 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