Research methods

How this site classifies, sources, and dates OIG profiles.

InspectorGeneral.net is a public scholarly reference for the federal Inspector General system. This page explains the site-wide rules used for counts, classification, sources, dates, leadership, vacancy measures, and law enforcement authority.

Count and roster reviewed: September 26, 2026

Method summary

A public count, not an internal roster.

Public Standard

InspectorGeneral.net uses an active standing OIG count for its headline number, not an internal government roster. Historical offices, temporary special IGs, special-purpose designations, and oversight-system institutions are documented separately. When sources disagree or provide only approximate dates, the uncertainty is described rather than hidden.

What counts and what does not

The headline number is an active standing OIG count.

Count Rule
Entity categories used by InspectorGeneral.net
Category Short definition Counted? Examples
Active standing OIG office A current Office of Inspector General with ongoing institutional existence. Yes NASA OIG, USDA OIG, TIGTA, House OIG.
Historical OIG office A former OIG office that no longer operates as a separate office. No FEMA OIG, CDFI Fund OIG, USIA OIG.
Temporary or special IG office A special-purpose office created for a limited program, conflict, emergency, or recovery effort. No in the active standing count SIGAR, SIGIR, SIGTARP, SIGPR.
Special-purpose IG role or designation A role or designation tied to existing IG structures rather than a permanent standalone OIG office. No SIGOAR.
Oversight-system institution A council, committee, data platform, integrity mechanism, or training body that supports the IG community. No CIGIE, PRAC, PCIE, ECIE, Oversight.gov, Integrity Committee.
Pending or proposed office A proposed office that has not yet been enacted and operationalized. No unless enacted and operational Proposed IG for Fraud, Accountability and Recovery.
Active standing OIGs = active establishment OIGs + active designated federal entity OIGs + active other standing OIGs

View the numbered 71-office roster as of September 26, 2026.

Historical cohorts

Original 1978 offices are identified by the IG Act's named list.

Cohort Rule

The original 1978 cohort means the twelve departments and agencies named in the Inspector General Act of 1978. Pre-1978 statutory offices, including HHS OIG and DOE OIG, are treated as predecessor or cohort-adjacent offices rather than as offices newly created by the 1978 Act.

Combined offices are counted once. Historical, transferred, abolished, merged, and sunset offices are documented in the directory when they matter to the system's history, but they are not included in the active standing count. Source counts may differ because statutory lists, CIGIE membership lists, directories, and historical inventories count different things.

Example

House OIG

Documented here as an active federal OIG office, even though it is not a CIGIE member office.

Example

Legacy offices

FEMA OIG and CDFI Fund OIG are historical or statutory legacy entries, not active standalone offices.

Example

Institutions and special roles

PRAC, CIGIE, and SIGOAR are important to oversight history, but are tracked outside the office count.

Original 1978 OIG offices
Original 1978 OIG Current shorthand
Department of AgricultureUSDA OIG
Department of CommerceDOC OIG
Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentHUD OIG
Department of the InteriorDOI OIG
Department of LaborDOL OIG
Department of TransportationDOT OIG
Community Services AdministrationCSA OIG, historical
Environmental Protection AgencyEPA OIG
General Services AdministrationGSA OIG
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA OIG
Small Business AdministrationSBA OIG
Veterans' AdministrationVA OIG

Evidence and source limits

Profiles use public sources, strongest first.

01

Primary legal authority

Public laws, U.S. Code, Statutes at Large, regulations, executive orders, presidential messages, Senate records, and agency orders.

02

Official OIG or agency records

OIG websites, semiannual reports, biographies, press releases, budget justifications, archived pages, and official histories.

03

Governmentwide oversight and research sources

CIGIE, Oversight.gov, CRS, GAO, OPM, congressional committee materials, and Federal Register notices.

04

Contemporary reporting

Used for recent removals, resignations, disputes, nominations, and events not yet reflected in official records.

When sources conflict, the site favors the strongest available source and explains discrepancies when they affect classification, dates, or counts.

Profiles are built from public statutes, U.S. Code text, official OIG and agency records, public congressional materials, governmentwide oversight records, public reporting, and publicly released or declassified materials. They do not rely on classified material, non-public internal records, unpublished investigative records, sources-and-methods information, or operational details.

Dates and uncertainty

Date categories used in profiles
Date type Meaning
Exact dateA full date supported by the cited source.
Approximate dateA month, year, or other partial date where the full date is not known.
Inferred dateA date derived from related records, such as a successor start date or vacancy report.
Statutory dateThe date legal authority was enacted or became effective.
Operational dateThe date an office appears to have begun operating.

Approximate or inferred dates are labeled rather than presented as exact.

Statutory establishment, operational start, first verified leader, vacancy denominator, and dissolution or transfer dates may differ. Profiles explain those differences when they affect how a specific office is interpreted.

Leadership and vacancy calculations

Confirmed leadership and acting service are tracked separately.

Profile Method

For PAS OIG vacancy metrics, acting, interim, and performing-duties periods usually count as vacancy periods because the office lacks a Senate-confirmed Inspector General. Acting officials are still recorded in leadership tables so readers can see who led the office during those intervals.

Profile vacancy snapshots normally show two cards: the share of elapsed days without a Senate-confirmed Inspector General and the longest vacancy period. Current or ongoing vacancy details are documented in the leadership table or profile methodology notes unless a profile-specific reason calls for a different display.

DFE and non-PAS offices use different appointment and vacancy logic. Those profiles explain office-specific denominator choices, appointment records, or calculation caveats when the general PAS rule does not apply cleanly.

Law enforcement authority

Law enforcement authority is separate from investigative responsibility.

Authority Field

OIGs may investigate without having independent firearm, arrest, or warrant authority. The site codes law enforcement authority by controlling source: direct statutory authority under 5 U.S.C. § 406(f)(3), Attorney General-authorized authority under § 406(f)(1)-(2), separate statutory authority, special statutory authority, or no identified independent authority.

Successor-office authority is not automatically applied backward to historical predecessor offices. Profiles explain law-enforcement classification issues only when the office-specific record requires more than the site-wide rule.

Oversight institutions and non-OIG entities

System institutions are documented outside the OIG count.

Separate Track

Some entities are central to the IG system but are not Offices of Inspector General. InspectorGeneral.net documents councils, committees, data systems, integrity mechanisms, and training institutions separately because they shape how the IG community operates. They are not included in the active standing OIG count.

Directory display

Directory cards are filed by substantive agency name.

Display Rule

The OIG directory is sorted alphabetically by filing name. Leading generic qualifiers such as Department of, Department of the, United States, and U.S. are ignored. Integral lead words such as Federal, National, Securities, and Small Business are retained.

Dated office roster · September 26, 2026

71 active standing federal OIG offices.

71 offices

As of September 26, 2026, InspectorGeneral.net identifies 71 active standing federal Offices of Inspector General under its office-count rules: 33 establishment OIGs, 30 designated federal entity (DFE) OIGs, and 8 other standing OIGs. This numbered roster preserves that dated population; linked profiles carry their own review dates.

The unit is the office, not its leader or the number of agencies it oversees. An office with an acting leader or a vacant IG position still counts. Combined offices, including the Federal Reserve Board/CFPB OIG, count once. The House OIG is included even though it is outside CIGIE membership.

Why the site previously showed both 71 and 72: the old Active filter included SIGOAR, the Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve. That is an additional role carried through existing IG offices, not a separate standing OIG. The headline and the Active standing OIGs filter now both exclude it. SIGOAR remains in All and Special; historical offices, temporary special IG offices, proposed offices, and cross-IG institutions are also outside this standing-office roster.

Source cross-check, September 26, 2026: the CIGIE Inspectors General Directory lists 70 offices that correspond to the roster below. Adding the separately documented House OIG gives 71. CIGIE lists the defense office as Department of War; this site uses Department of Defense for that same office. The FY 2026 Operation Atlantic Resolve oversight plan documents the SIGOAR designation and participating OIGs. The list is alphabetized by office shorthand; each office link opens its profile and supporting sources.

Suggested citation: InspectorGeneral.net, “Active standing federal OIG offices as of September 26, 2026,” Methods, dated roster.

Active standing federal OIG offices as of September 26, 2026 — 71 offices
No.Office and agencySite category
1 AbilityOne OIGCommittee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (AbilityOne) DFE
2 AmeriCorps OIGCorporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) Establishment
3 Amtrak OIGNational Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK) DFE
4 AOC OIGArchitect of the Capitol Other
5 ARC OIGAppalachian Regional Commission DFE
6 CFTC OIGCommodity Futures Trading Commission DFE
7 CIA OIGCentral Intelligence Agency Other
8 CPSC OIGConsumer Product Safety Commission DFE
9 Denali OIGDenali Commission DFE
10 DFC OIGU.S. International Development Finance Corporation DFE
11 DHS OIGDepartment of Homeland Security Establishment
12 DIA OIGDefense Intelligence Agency DFE
13 DOC OIGDepartment of Commerce Establishment
14 DOD OIGDepartment of Defense Establishment
15 DOE OIGDepartment of Energy Establishment
16 DOI OIGDepartment of the Interior Establishment
17 DOJ OIGDepartment of Justice Establishment
18 DOL OIGDepartment of Labor Establishment
19 DOT OIGDepartment of Transportation Establishment
20 EAC OIGElection Assistance Commission DFE
21 ED OIGDepartment of Education Establishment
22 EEOC OIGEqual Employment Opportunity Commission DFE
23 EPA OIGEnvironmental Protection Agency and Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Establishment
24 EXIM OIGExport-Import Bank of the United States Establishment
25 FCA OIGFarm Credit Administration DFE
26 FCC OIGFederal Communications Commission Establishment
27 FDIC OIGFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation Establishment
28 FEC OIGFederal Election Commission DFE
29 FHFA OIGFederal Housing Finance Agency Establishment
30 FLRA OIGFederal Labor Relations Authority DFE
31 FMC OIGFederal Maritime Commission DFE
32 FRB/CFPB OIGBoard of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection DFE
33 FTC OIGFederal Trade Commission DFE
34 GAO OIGGovernment Accountability Office Other
35 GPO OIGGovernment Publishing Office Other
36 GSA OIGGeneral Services Administration Establishment
37 HHS OIGDepartment of Health and Human Services Establishment
38 House IGU.S. House of Representatives Other
39 HUD OIGDepartment of Housing and Urban Development Establishment
40 ICIGOffice of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Other
41 LOC OIGLibrary of Congress Other
42 LSC OIGLegal Services Corporation DFE
43 NARA OIGNational Archives and Records Administration DFE
44 NASA OIGNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Establishment
45 NCUA OIGNational Credit Union Administration DFE
46 NEA OIGNational Endowment for the Arts DFE
47 NEH OIGNational Endowment for the Humanities DFE
48 NGA OIGNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency DFE
49 NLRB OIGNational Labor Relations Board DFE
50 NRC OIGNuclear Regulatory Commission Establishment
51 NRO OIGNational Reconnaissance Office Establishment
52 NSA OIGNational Security Agency Establishment
53 NSF OIGNational Science Foundation DFE
54 OPM OIGOffice of Personnel Management Establishment
55 PBGC OIGPension Benefit Guaranty Corporation DFE
56 Peace Corps OIGPeace Corps DFE
57 RRB OIGRailroad Retirement Board Establishment
58 SBA OIGSmall Business Administration Establishment
59 SEC OIGU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission DFE
60 Smithsonian OIGSmithsonian Institution DFE
61 SSA OIGSocial Security Administration Establishment
62 State OIGDepartment of State and U.S. Agency for Global Media Establishment
63 TIGTATreasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Establishment
64 Treasury OIGDepartment of the Treasury Establishment
65 TVA OIGTennessee Valley Authority Establishment
66 USAID OIGAgency for International Development Establishment
67 USCP OIGU.S. Capitol Police Other
68 USDA OIGDepartment of Agriculture Establishment
69 USITC OIGU.S. International Trade Commission DFE
70 USPS OIGU.S. Postal Service DFE
71 VA OIGDepartment of Veterans Affairs Establishment

Review status and corrections

Completed profiles carry public review signals.

Completed profiles include review dates, source-check dates, and a changelog entry when major classification, authority, leadership, vacancy, or source-trail changes are made. Corrections are reviewed against primary or official sources whenever possible.