BEACON Act
BEACON (Bringing Executive Accountability, Clarity, and Oversight Now) Act would create an Office of Inspector General (IG) within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) by amending the Inspector General Act of 1978. The bill requires the President to appoint the EOP IG within 120 days and places the IG under the President’s authority for audits, investigations, and subpoenas that would involve highly sensitive information (such as the identity of confidential sources, intelligence matters, or undercover operations). The President could temporarily prohibit such work to prevent disclosure of that information, with notice to the IG and to Congress. The bill adds new reporting requirements, mandates independent oversight by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) with annual audits of the EOP IG, and introduces two evaluations of EOP classification practices in coordination with the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) to address over- and misclassification. Overall, the BEACON Act expands both the scope of presidential oversight over sensitive investigations and the formal reporting and accountability framework for the EOP.
Key Points
- 1Establishes the Inspector General for the Executive Office of the President within Title 5’s Inspector General framework; President must appoint within 120 days.
- 2Grants the EOP IG authority for audits, investigations, and subpoenas related to highly sensitive information, but the President can prohibit such actions when necessary to protect sources, intelligence matters, or undercover operations; the President must notify the IG and Congress if exercised.
- 3Semiannual IG reports must include action taken on significant recommendations, a certification of access to information, descriptions of information-access issues caused by Presidential action, and recommendations on efficiency and fraud, waste, and abuse; reports go first to the President and then to designated congressional committees within 30 days.
- 4Requires annual CIGIE audits of the EOP IG (not later than 120 days after appointment and annually thereafter) with Congress reporting due by October 31 after each audit.
- 5Adds two over-classification evaluations (within 1 year of enactment and again one year after the first) to assess classification policies and misclassification, coordinated with ISOO/NARA; findings and recommendations to be reported to Congress, the President, and ISOO.