Miller’s sworn assertion suggests he plans to uphold the language in the $2 trillion CARES Act, which requires the new inspector general to report to Congress anytime he is impeded in his investigative work. It’s a rejection of the position held by Trump, who in a March 27 signing statement said the newly established watchdog could not be permitted or required to report to Congress without “presidential supervision.”
“I do not understand, and my Administration will not treat, this provision as permitting the [IG] to issue reports to the Congress without the presidential supervision required [by the Constitution],” Trump said in the statement.
In the exchange with Cortez Masto, Miller also indicated that he would inform Congress “immediately” if any agencies asked him to withhold information, and that he would consider any effort to dole out massive sums of taxpayer money to states based “for political gain” a violation that he would review.
The back-and-forth was the most critical of Miller’s two-plus hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, which featured a slew of questions from Democrats about whether Miller’s current role as a White House lawyer disqualified him from acting as an independent inspector general.
Miller repeatedly vowed to resist any pressure from the president or other administration officials seeking to undermine his independence. He cited his track record of battling with officials from George W. Bush’s administration as a federal watchdog and vowed he wouldn’t “bend” for anyone in Trump’s orbit either.
But Miller sidestepped questions about whether he played a role, as a White House lawyer, in Trump’s abrupt dismissal of intelligence community watchdog Michael Atkinson last month or the president’s subsequent move to sideline another watchdog, Glenn Fine, who was initially picked to oversee the government’s broad coronavirus response. Miller, too, declined, to say whether he agreed with Trump’s characterization of Atkinson as a “disgrace to IGs.”
The hearing quickly became a skirmish in Congress’ broader confrontation with Trump’s efforts to dismantle or assert control over the independent watchdogs charged with monitoring his administration. Republicans largely backed Miller, rejecting suggestions that he might not be independent enough of the president. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) called such suggestions “innuendo.”
Miller is the first inspector general nominee to come before the Senate since Trump began a concerted effort to remake the community of federal watchdogs and remove those he has deemed, without basis, as acting with an anti-Trump bias. And Senate Democrats have raised concerns about whether a White House aide can truly exercise independence from a president determined to tighten his grip on the inspector general community.
“Looking at the last 20 years, we found only one IG candidate was nominated while serving in the White House counsel’s office, another nominee served in the White House counsel’s office under an earlier administration,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. “Both of them resigned, one for politicizing the office, the other for a lack of independence. Not a great track record.”
Miller and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who appeared via video, sparred as she pressed him to make commitments on what might constitute potential abuses worthy of investigation.
Though he first resisted engaging in what he called „hypotheticals“ — she said he made the commitments earlier to her in private — he agreed that a bailed-out corporation that lays off employees could spur an investigation, as well as companies that lobbied the White House and Congress before receiving funds.
„Certainly, situations where companies are spending the money for profits and laying off workers seems to be a situation that I would want to investigate,“ he said.
Under questioning from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Miller said all inspectors general should be willing to face firing for providing honest information to their superiors.
„You should never be afraid of stating the truth and if you have to be fired, you’re fired,“ he said. „But you always have to be prepared, at least, to walk away from your job.“
For his part, Miller, who Trump tapped as “special inspector general for pandemic response,” pledged to operate free of political influence, in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. Miller, who is likely to be confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate, would oversee a $500-billion fund managed by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve meant to shore up companies and industries ravaged amid the coronavirus crisis.
“I think independence is vital for the effective operation of any inspector general,” Miller said in response to questioning from the committee’s chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). “I met with resistance throughout my tenure as inspector general. I conducted investigations of major contractors, much to the chagrin of leaders at the GSA … Ultimately I was proven right.”
Source: politico.com
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