[yardie]

We already have that in the GAO. We also have personnel who's job is to root out fraud: inspector generals. The budget is constantly audited scrutinized for excess and waste, except 2 departments: defense and Medicare. The former is pork for the politicians' home states. The later is so complex it relies on the healthcare industry to help write the rules. And they can't help making sure they get paid the most.

[jimt1234]

Yes, the GAO exists. But under the current administration, it's basically like a security guard that just sits there and watches crooks do bad shit, reports it, and then nothing happens.

[sjsdaiuasgdia]

And the Trump administration would similarly hamstring any newly created transparency organization. Not that the current congress would ever pass such a thing. And anyway, the Supreme Court has made sure that even if congress passed a law to make a(nother) government transparency agency, they can't make that agency truly independent and protected from presidential interference.

[bit-anarchist]

Creating an executive agency to investigate the executive would be pretty stupid. It'll likely lead to "we've investigated ourselves and found nothing", even if the president wasn't vested in all executive power, as the executive branch consolidates.

However, creating an agency in the legislative branch is another story. One of the duties of the legistive is to investigate the executive, is it not? (not that this matters when both the executive and legislative are controlled by the same party)

[nullocator]

The GAO is a "legislative agency"...

[bit-anarchist]

Fair enough, but wishing for an independent agency without creating its own government branch is still foolish.

[Rapzid]

It's more like they fired the security guard and never bothered to hire a new one.

Aren't most of the inspectors general positions they fired still vacant?

[bikezen]

Good thing trumps on that fraud by bolstering the IGs and not just gutting them across all agencies...