[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2219 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2219
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Office of
Inspector General in the Executive Office of the President, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2025
Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Kelly, and Ms. Hirono) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to establish an Office of
Inspector General in the Executive Office of the President, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bringing Executive Accountability,
Clarity, and Oversight Now Act'' or the ``BEACON Act''.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL IN THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Section 401 of title 5, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the ``Inspector General Act of 1978'')
is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or the National
Reconnaissance Office'' and inserting ``the National
Reconnaissance Office, or the Executive Office of the
President''; and
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or the Director
of the National Reconnaissance Office'' and inserting
``the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office;
or the President (with respect to the Executive Office
of the President)''.
(2) Appointment of inspector general.--Not later than 120
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President
shall appoint an individual as the Inspector General of the
Executive Office of the President in accordance with the
requirements of section 403(a) of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Special Provisions.--Chapter 4 of title 5, United States Code,
is amended by inserting after section 424 the following:
``SEC. 425. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT.
``(a) Audits, Investigations, and Issuance of Subpoenas.--
``(1) Authority, direction, and control.--Notwithstanding
the last 2 sentences of section 403(a), the Inspector General
of the Executive Office of the President shall be under the
authority, direction, and control of the President with respect
to audits or investigations, or the issuance of subpoenas, that
require access to information concerning any of the following:
``(A) The identity of a confidential source,
including a protected witness.
``(B) An intelligence or counterintelligence
matter.
``(C) An undercover operation.
``(2) Prohibition in certain situations.--With respect to
the information described in paragraph (1), the President may
prohibit the Inspector General of the Executive Office of the
President from initiating, carrying out, or completing any
audit or investigation, or from issuing any subpoena, after the
Inspector General has decided to initiate, carry out, or
complete such audit or investigation, or to issue such
subpoena, if the President determines that such prohibition is
necessary to prevent the disclosure of any information
described in paragraph (1).
``(3) Notice after prohibition.--
``(A) To inspector general.--If the President
exercises any power under paragraph (2), not later than
30 days after exercising any such power, the President
shall notify the Inspector General of the Executive
Office of the President in writing, stating the reasons
for exercising that power.
``(B) To congress.--Not later than 30 days after
receiving a notice under subparagraph (A), the
Inspector General of the Executive Office of the
President shall transmit a copy of the notice to the
chair and ranking member of each of the following:
``(i) The Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
``(ii) The Committee on the Judiciary of
the Senate.
``(iii) The Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of
Representatives.
``(iv) The Committee on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives.
``(v) Any other appropriate committee or
subcommittee of Congress.
``(b) Semiannual Reports.--
``(1) Additional information to be included.--Any
semiannual report prepared by the Inspector General of the
Executive Office of the President under section 405(b) shall
also include the following:
``(A) With respect to each significant
recommendation on which corrective action has been
completed, a description of the corrective action.
``(B) A certification of whether the Inspector
General of the Executive Office of the President has
had full and direct access to all information relevant
to the performance of the functions of the Inspector
General.
``(C) A description of any audit, inspection, or
evaluation occurring during the reporting period in
which the Inspector General of the Executive Office of
the President could not obtain relevant information due
to an exercise of power by the President under
subsection (a)(2).
``(D) Such recommendations as the Inspector General
of the Executive Office of the President considers
appropriate with respect to efficiency in the
administration of programs and operations undertaken by
the President, and the detection and elimination of
fraud, waste, and abuse in such programs and
operations.
``(2) Submission to president.--Notwithstanding section
405(c), the Inspector General of the Executive Office of the
President shall submit to the President the semiannual reports
prepared under section 405(b), including the additional
information required under paragraph (1), not later than April
30 and October 31 of each year.
``(3) Transmission to congress.--Not later than 30 days
after submitting the semiannual report to the President under
paragraph (2), the Inspector General of the Executive Office of
the President shall transmit the semiannual report to the chair
and ranking member of each of the following:
``(A) The Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
``(B) The Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
``(C) The Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives.
``(D) The Committee on the Judiciary of the House
of Representatives.
``(c) Audit of the Office of the Inspector General of the Executive
Office of the President.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the
President appoints an individual as the Inspector General of
the Executive Office of the President, and annually thereafter,
the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
shall conduct an audit of the Office of the Inspector General
of the Executive Office of the President to ensure that the
office is able to effectively provide oversight of the
Executive Office of the President.
``(2) Report.--Not later than October 31 after the first
audit is completed under paragraph (1), and annually
thereafter, the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and
Efficiency shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of
the audit.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 4 of title 5, United States Code,
is amended--
(A) in section 415(a)(2)--
(i) by striking subparagraph (C); and
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (D)
through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (E),
respectively; and
(B) in section 418, by striking ``or 421'' and
inserting ``, 421, or 425''.
(2) Table of sections.--The table of sections for chapter 4
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``425. Special provisions concerning the Executive Office of the
President.''.
(d) Over-Classification Audit.--
(1) Evaluations required.--The Inspector General of the
Executive Office of the President, in consultation with the
Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives
and Records Administration, shall carry out 2 evaluations of
the Executive Office of the President--
(A) to assess whether applicable classification
policies, procedures, rules, and regulations have been
adopted, followed, and effectively administered within
the Executive Office of the President; and
(B) to identify policies, procedures, rules,
regulations, or management practices that may be
contributing to persistent misclassification of
material within the Executive Office of the President.
(2) Deadlines for evaluations.--
(A) Initial evaluation.--The first evaluation
required under paragraph (1) shall be completed not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(B) Second evaluation.--The second evaluation
required under paragraph (1) shall review progress made
pursuant to the results of the first evaluation and
shall be completed not later than 1 year after the date
on which the first evaluation is completed.
(3) Coordination.--The Inspector General of the Executive
Office of the President shall coordinate with other Inspectors
General and the Information Security Oversight Office to ensure
that evaluations follow a consistent methodology, as
appropriate, that allows for cross-agency comparisons.
(4) Reports required.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the
completion of an evaluation, the Inspector General of
the Executive Office of the President shall submit to
the appropriate entities a report on that evaluation.
(B) Content.--Each report submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall include a description of--
(i) the policies, procedures, rules,
regulations, or management practices, if any,
identified by the Inspector General under
paragraph (1)(B); and
(ii) the recommendations, if any, of the
Inspector General to address any such
identified policies, procedures, rules,
regulations, or management practices.
(5) Appropriate entities defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``appropriate entities'' means each of the following:
(A) The Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
(B) The Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(C) The Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives.
(D) The Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
(E) Any other appropriate committee or subcommittee
of Congress.
(F) The President.
(G) The Director of the Information Security
Oversight Office.
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