Sec. 4. Additional responsibilities and resources of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
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Section 11 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— in subsection (b)— in paragraph (1)(B), by striking Director of National Intelligence and inserting Intelligence Community ; and by amending paragraph (3)(B)(viii) to read as follows: prepare and transmit an annual report on behalf of the Council on the activities of the Council to— the President; the appropriate committees of jurisdiction in the Senate and the House of Representatives; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives. ; in subsection (c)(1)— in subparagraph (G), by striking and at the end; by redesignating subparagraph
(H)as subparagraph (I); and by inserting after subparagraph
(G)the following: receive, review, and mediate any disputes submitted in writing to the Council by an Office of Inspector General regarding an audit, investigation, inspection, evaluation, or project that involves the jurisdiction of more than 1 Office of Inspector General; and ; in subsection (d)— in paragraph (2)— by striking subparagraph (C); by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and
(D)as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; in the matter preceding clause (i), as so redesignated, by striking The Integrity and inserting the following: The Integrity ; in clause (i), as so redesignated, by striking , who and all that follows through Committee ; in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by inserting or the designee of the Director before the period at the end; and by adding at the end the following: The Integrity Committee shall elect 1 of the Inspectors General referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) to act as Chairperson of the Committee (in this subsection referred to as the Chairperson ). The term of office of the Chairperson shall be 2 years. ; by amending paragraph
(5)to read as follows: Not later than 7 days after the date on which the Integrity Committee receives an allegation of wrongdoing against an Inspector General or against a staff member of an Office of Inspector General described under paragraph (4)(C), the allegation of wrongdoing shall be reviewed and referred to the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel for investigation, or to the Integrity Committee for review, as appropriate, by— a representative of the Department of Justice, as designated by the Attorney General; a representative of the Office of Special Counsel, as designated by the Special Counsel; and a representative of the Integrity Committee, as designated by the Chairperson. Not later than 7 days after the date on which an allegation of wrongdoing is referred to the Integrity Committee under subparagraph (A), the Integrity Committee shall determine whether to refer the allegation of wrongdoing to the Chairperson to initiate an investigation. ; in paragraph (6)— in subparagraph (A), by striking paragraph (5)(C) and inserting paragraph (5)(B) ; and in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking may and inserting shall ; in paragraph (7)— in subparagraph (B)— in clause (i)— in subclause (III), by striking and at the end; in subclause (IV), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and by adding at the end the following: except as provided in clause (ii), ensuring, to the extent possible, that investigations are conducted by Offices of Inspector General of similar size; creating a regular rotation of Inspectors General assigned to investigate allegations through the Integrity Committee; and creating procedures to avoid conflicts of interest for Integrity Committee investigations. ; by redesignating clause
(ii)as clause (iii); and by inserting after clause
(i)the following: The requirement under clause (i)(V) shall not apply to any Office of Inspector General with less than 50 employees who are authorized to conduct audits or investigations. ; by striking subparagraph (C); and by inserting after subparagraph
(B)the following: If an allegation of wrongdoing is referred to the Chairperson under paragraph (5)(B), the Chairperson— shall complete the investigation not later than 120 days after the date on which the Integrity Committee made such a referral; if the investigation cannot be completed within the 120-day period described in clause (i), shall— promptly notify the congressional committees described in paragraph (8)(A)(iii); and brief the congressional committees described in paragraph (8)(A)(iii) every 30 days until the investigation is complete. If an allegation of wrongdoing against an Inspector General or a staff member of an Office of Inspector General described under paragraph (4)(C) is referred to the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel under paragraph (5)(A), the Chairperson may conduct any related investigation referred to the Chairperson under paragraph (5)(B) concurrently with the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel, as applicable. For each investigation of an allegation of wrongdoing referred to the Chairperson under paragraph (5)(B), the Chairperson shall submit to members of the Integrity Committee a report containing the results of the investigation. For each allegation of wrongdoing referred to the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel under paragraph (5)(A), the Attorney General or the Special Counsel, as applicable, shall submit to the Integrity Committee a report containing the results of the investigation. Any Member of Congress shall have access to any report authored by the Integrity Committee. ; by striking paragraph (8)(A)(iii) and inserting the following: submit the report, with the recommendations of the Integrity Committee, to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and other congressional committees of jurisdiction; and following the submission of the report under clause
(iii)and upon request by any Member of Congress, submit the report, with the recommendations of the Integrity Committee, to that Member. ; in paragraph (9)(B), by striking other agencies and inserting the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel ; in paragraph (10), by striking any of the following and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting any Member of Congress. ; and by adding at the end the following: In this paragraph, the term Special Counsel means the Special Counsel appointed under section 1211(b) of title 5, United States Code. An allegation of wrongdoing against the Special Counsel or the Deputy Special Counsel may be received, reviewed, and referred for investigation to the same extent and in the same manner as in the case of an allegation against an Inspector General or against a staff member of an Office of Inspector General described under paragraph (4)(C), subject to the requirement that the representative designated by the Special Counsel under paragraph (5)(A)(ii) shall recuse himself or herself from the consideration of any allegation brought under this paragraph. This paragraph does not eliminate access to the Merit Systems Protection Board for review under section 7701 of title 5, United States Code. To the extent that an allegation brought under this subsection involves section 2302(b)(8) of that title, a failure to obtain corrective action within 120 days after the date on which the allegation is received by the Integrity Committee shall, for purposes of section 1221 of such title, be considered to satisfy section 1214(a)(3)(B) of that title. The Integrity Committee may prescribe any rules or regulations necessary to carry out this paragraph, subject to such consultation or other requirements as may otherwise apply. The Chairperson of the Council shall maintain the records of the Integrity Committee. ; and by adding at the end the following: For the purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated into the revolving fund described in subsection (c)(3)(B), out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the following sums: $8,500,000 for fiscal year 2016. $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2017. $9,500,000 for fiscal year 2018. $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2019. $10,500,000 for fiscal year 2020. $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. .