It is not easy to get rid of a bad federal inspector general

See Federal Agency Suspends Inspector General After Oversight Body Alleged ‘Substantial Misconduct’: CFTC voted to place A. Roy Lavik on ‘non-duty status’ after watchdog said he disclosed whistleblowers’ identities, wasted government funds by Alexander Osipovich and Paul Kiernan of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"A federal regulator has voted to suspend its inspector general after an oversight body found that he engaged in “substantial misconduct,” including wasting government funds, outing whistleblowers and disparaging employees, people familiar with the matter said.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives markets, voted 3-0 to place its inspector general, A. Roy Lavik, on “non-duty status” while it considered what further action to take, the people said. The agency informed leaders of several congressional committees of the move earlier this week, the people said."

"Inspectors general are independent watchdogs housed within government agencies to audit their operations and look for waste, fraud and abuse. Because they scrutinize agency leaders and can face political pressure, removing them requires notification of Congress.

The CFTC’s move to suspend Mr. Lavik came in response to a critical report from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or CIGIE, the body that oversees the various inspectors general offices across the government.

The CIGIE report, dated Feb. 13 and posted in recent days on the group’s website, recommended that Mr. Lavik face disciplinary action, including potentially removal from his job. It came after a yearslong investigation dating back to complaints filed in late 2018 and early 2019, the report said.

CIGIE said in the report that Mr. Lavik wasted more than $165,000 by hiring a consultant who did little to no work. The report said that on multiple occasions he improperly disclosed the identities of agency employees who served as whistleblowers and witnesses for inspector-general investigations"

"he violated the agency’s technology-security policies by letting staff and contractors use his passwords."

"Mr. Lavik made inappropriate comments. In one incident, he said about a female CFTC employee, “I want to f—her,”"

"Mr. Lavik’s deputy, Judith Ringle, engaged in “substantial misconduct” in connection with the treatment of whistleblowers and computer-security practices, alleging that she improperly accessed a federal training site using Mr. Lavik’s login information."

"Two-thirds of the CFTC’s commissioners must agree before it can remove an inspector general."