"After more than 31 years of public service, Inspector General Todd J. Zinser announced his retirement yesterday stating his desire to pursue opportunities outside of government service. He served as the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Commerce for the past 7 and a half years," according to an IG office statement.
In his farewell letter to OIG
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, had written a letter March 31 calling for Zinser's removal. She said that a bipartisan investigation supported allegations of misconduct and mismanagement.
Johnson wrote that Zinser failed to disclose a whistleblower retaliation case against him during his Senate confirmation hearing, and that over a period of years Zinser and some of his staff engaged in efforts to identify and retaliate whistleblowers in his office.
She wrote that Zinser also engaged in inappropriate hiring practices and took steps to obstruct congressional investigations into allegations of his misconduct.
"When IGs compromise their standing, the work of the IGs' offices are invariably tainted with a sense of hypocrisy and mistrust, producing cynicism among those who work for the government and disrespect for the government among the broader public," Johnson wrote in the letter.
Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, said in a hearing June 3 that Zinser's case highlights the importance of rigorously vetting IG nominees before they take office.
"It also serves as a reminder that it is sometimes beneficial to initiate a vacancy, especially when it means removing a permanent IG who has abused his position and undermined his office's mission," Brian said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee said his committee had heard the allegations of misconduct against Zinser and respects his decision to retire.
"In light of testimony yesterday about the president's failure to fill critical IG positions in several federal agencies, I call on the president to promptly nominate a permanent replacement as inspector general at the Department of Commerce and to fill the other four presidentially appointed inspector general vacancies," Johnson said.
