After nearly five decades on the Washington scene, National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has seen its share of “who's watching the watchdog?” stories. Oversight is, after all, vital to the effective stewardship of taxpayers' money. When this element fails, the impact is not only measured in dollars and cents – it's gauged by loss of citizens' confidence in government.
That's why NTU's members took great interest recently in an announcement that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce was probing “management concerns with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI).” Although OCI's issues have previously been mentioned in Government Accountability Office (GAO) and FDA Inspector General reports, the Committee's actions are also motivated by a Reuters article citing complaints from OCI agents about spending decisions, as well as case priorities.
