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Federal Election Commission | United States of America

Office of Inspector General

The Office of Inspector General's mission is to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, violations of law, and to promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the operations of the FEC. The OIG strives, as an agent of positive change, to promote improvements in the management of FEC programs and operations by independently conducting audits, evaluations and investigations. In addition, the OIG keeps the Commission and Congress informed regarding major developments associated with our work. The OIG's accomplishments are reported semiannually to the Commission and Congress.

Mission and authority

The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, created independent oversight units, called Offices of Inspector General, at enumerated federal agencies. The mission of the OIGs, as spelled out in the Act, is to:

  • Conduct and supervise independent and objective audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations.
  • Promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency within the agency.
  • Prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse in agency programs and operations.
  • Review and make recommendations regarding existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to agency programs and operations.
  • Keep the agency head and the Congress fully and currently informed of problems in agency programs and operations.
  • To ensure objectivity, the IG Act empowers IGs with:
  • Independence to determine what reviews to perform.
  • Access to all information necessary for the reviews.
  • Authority to publish findings and recommendations based on the reviews.

Report fraud, waste or abuse

Individuals who provide information to the Office of Inspector General on allegations of fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement of FEC programs and operations may do so in one of 3 ways:

  1. Provide information anonymously, or
  2. Provide information, provide your identity and contact information, and request that your identity be protected, or
  3. Provide information, and provide your identity and contact information with no restrictions.

You can submit your complaint by these methods:

Mail

Federal Election Commission
Office of Inspector General
1050 First Street, NE Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20463

Call

202-694-1015

Fax

202-501-8134

MySafeWorkplace
FEC employees and contractors only may access the telephone number and website through the Inspector General's page on the FEC intranet.

Examples of OIG audit and investigative responsibilities:

  • Audit of the FEC’s telework program
  • Audit of the FEC’s property controls
  • Investigation of an FEC employee suspected of fraud
  • Investigation of an FEC contractor suspected of bribery or ethics violations

Examples of non-OIG responsibilities:

  • Investigation of a possible violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (Office of the General Counsel)
  • Federal campaign finance statistics (Press Office)
  • Audit of a candidate committee for a Federal elected office (Audit Division)
  • Matters involving the administration of Federal elections, such as election fraud, voting system standards, and voter registration (U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 202-566-3100 or 866-747-1471; US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division Voting Section 202-307-2767)

Federal IG community

Top management and performance challenges facing multiple federal agencies (2018)

IGnet website (Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency)

Government auditing standards

All federal inspector general reports (oversight.gov)

Legal citations

Legal authority

Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended

Related topics

This information is not intended to replace the law or to change its meaning, nor does this information create or confer any rights for or on any person or bind the Federal Election Commission or the public.

The reader is encouraged also to consult the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), Commission regulations (Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations), Commission advisory opinions and applicable court decisions.