The DHS Office of Inspector General
Summary
The Department of Homeland Security's own watchdog, funded at $220.1 million and 736 people for FY2026, reported $19.80 in savings and recoveries for every dollar Congress gave it in just six months -- the Good Citizen series' entry on the inspector general overseeing the border, FEMA, ICE, and the Secret Service.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
In the six months ending September 30, 2025, issued 29 audit and inspection reports carrying 117 new recommendations⧉ and managed more than 650 open investigations, including inspections of eight detention facilities. Investigators opened 96 new cases, closed 218, and made arrests in 104⧉, producing 150 grand jury indictments and 65 convictions; the hotline logged 14,022 complaints. One audit found the Secret Service's counter-sniper team staffed 73 percent below the level its own protective mission requires⧉. Since January 2020, COVID-19 fraud investigations alone have produced 307 criminal indictments and 228 convictions⧉.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress funds at $220.1 million in FY2026 budget authority under a continuing resolution⧉ -- flat against FY2025 -- covering 736 full-time-equivalent staff against 809 authorized positions. The pending FY2027 request would cut that to $198.2 million and 651 FTE⧉, an 85-position reduction. Measured against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, 's FY2026 funding works out to about 64 cents per person.
View data as table
| FY2025 (Full-Year CR) | 220.1 | 736 FTE |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 (Annualized CR) | 220.1 | 736 FTE |
| FY2027 (President's Budget request) | 198.2 | 651 FTE |
Why is it good for society?
's own accounting puts its return at $19.80 in identified savings and recoveries for every dollar Congress funded it⧉ that period, built from $1.5 billion in funds flagged for better use and $32.6 million in direct recoveries and fines. That work depends on statutory access to records -- access that is contested: five DHS components denied or delayed OIG access in 23 requests this period, citing no valid legal basis⧉. Without an inspector general with enforceable access, a department spanning , , , , and the Secret Service would be auditing itself.
- 's FY2026 budget authority ($220.1 million, 736 ) is flat against FY2025 under a continuing resolution; the FY2027 request would cut it to $198.2 million and 651 -- an 85-position reduction.
- In the six months ending September 2025, made 104 arrests and won 150 grand jury indictments while reporting a self-calculated $19.80 return for every dollar Congress funded it.
Your handles.* Report fraud, waste, or abuse inside -- confidentially or anonymously -- through the DHS OIG Hotline. To read 's own audits, inspections, and semiannual reports as they post, use the office's Semiannual Reports to Congress page.
Sources(3) ▾
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Office of Inspector General Budget Overview -- Fiscal Year 2027 Congressional Justification (2026-04-14) — 's own FY2027 congressional budget justification, published April 2026 -- the most current dated summary of 's own budget authority and staffing across FY2025 (Full-Year CR), FY2026 (Annualized CR), and FY2027 (President's Budget request). Source for this entry's budget and KPIs and the multi-year chart. Wayback snapshot requested and confirmed at read time (2026-07-16). dhs.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Semiannual Report to Congress, April 1, 2025 -- September 30, 2025 (2026-06-22) — 's statutorily required semiannual report to Congress, the most current one published (covers April 1-September 30, 2025; issuance delayed by government shutdowns per the Inspector General's own message). Source for this entry's identity/statutory-basis paragraph, organizational structure, workload statistics, the Secret Service counter-sniper finding, the COVID-19 fraud figures, the office's self-reported return on investment, and the access-obstruction finding. Wayback snapshot confirmed at read time (2026-07-16). oig.dhs.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. census.gov · original document
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The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General was created when the Homeland Security Act of 2002 amended the Inspector General Act of 1978⧉, 5 U.S.C. § 401 -- an independent watchdog inside the department it audits. The President appoints the Inspector General; the Senate confirms; by statute the reports directly to the DHS Secretary and to Congress⧉, bypassing 's chain of command. The office comprises the Executive Office plus⧉ Audits, Counsel, Innovation, Inspections and Evaluations, Integrity, Investigations, and Management, headquartered in Washington, DC, plus field offices nationwide.