Rep. Trey Gowdy says departments that refuse to comply with inspector general investigations should have their budgets cut, because money is the only thing anyone in Washington understands.
"You have to hit them the only place anyone in Washington feels it, which is in the back pocket," Gowdy said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren." "Get the appropriators in the House and Senate involved, and say if you don't comply with this statute we are going to cut your budget."
Gowdy's comments came after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing Tuesday with 47 inspectors general who say the Obama administration is stonewalling their probes.
Committee members from both parties were critical of the Justice Department for failing to provide documentation the IG's are legally entitled to receive,
The Washington Examiner reported.
Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz testified that the FBI has reviewed requested documents since 2010 in clear violation of the law.
The FBI requires all documents to be cleared through the attorney general or deputy attorney general, and that "seriously impairs inspector general independence, creates excessive delays, and may lead to incomplete, inaccurate or significantly delayed findings or recommendations," Horowitz told the committee.
Other IG's critical of the administration include those for the departments of Commerce, Defense, Intelligence, Homeland Security, Justice, and Labor as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Equal Opportunity Commission, NASA, the FCC and the Office of Personnel Management.
"I mean, Horowitz with DOJ wanted information related to Fast and Furious. He wanted information related to material witness warrants and to wiretaps," Gowdy said.
"The Peace Corps, there were a number of allegations of sex assault. So the inspector general wanted to investigate whether the Peace Corps was doing its job with respect to reporting," he said.
Gowdy said he believes that in some instances things were being hidden.
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