Sponsor
Rick Crawford
Representative · R-AR
The bill gives the ICIG stronger law-enforcement powers to improve oversight and speed accountability in the intelligence community, at the cost of increased civil‑liberty risks, legal ambiguity, and additional operational expenses.
Federal employees and government contractors will face stronger oversight because the ICIG is granted law-enforcement authority parity with other inspectors general, improving the detection of fraud, waste, and abuse in the intelligence community.
Federal employees and government contractors will see faster accountability because stronger ICIG authority can speed investigations and referrals into criminal misconduct within the intelligence community.
Federal employees and government contractors may face increased surveillance or more intrusive investigations, raising privacy and civil‑liberty risks if statutory safeguards and oversight are not clearly defined.
Federal employees, government contractors, and federal agencies may encounter legal uncertainty because the conforming amendment is ambiguously drafted about the scope and limits of ICIG authority until clarified by regulation or courts.
Taxpayers and federal oversight offices may absorb higher costs for training, coordination with DOJ or other enforcement partners, and expanded enforcement activities, creating budgetary pressure.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Extends the law-enforcement-authority provisions of 5 U.S.C. § 406(f) to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, aligning ICIG statutory authority with other inspectors general.
Representative · R-AR
Official title: To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to provide the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community with law enforcement authority, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 9, 2026 by Rick Crawford · Last progress June 9, 2026
Extends existing law enforcement authority rules that apply to most federal inspectors general to the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG). The bill adds a new subsection to the National Security Act provisions governing the ICIG so that the ICIG is treated the same as other inspectors general under 5 U.S.C. § 406(f). The text also attempts a small conforming insertion into 5 U.S.C. § 406(f)(3), but that insertion is ambiguous as drafted; the substantive effect is to align ICIG authority and status with other statutory inspectors general who possess certain law-enforcement related authorities.