Michael Horowitz to Lead Federal Reserve's Office of Inspector General

Michael E. Horowitz is stepping down from his role as the Justice Department’s long-serving inspector general to assume the position of chief watchdog at the Federal Reserve.

His appointment, effective June 30, was announced by the Federal Reserve on Friday. According to federal law, the Fed’s chairman, Jerome Powell, appoints the agency’s inspector general without the need for presidential approval or Senate confirmation.

In this new role, Horowitz will also oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that has faced efforts to curtail its authority under the previous administration, though legal challenges have impeded some of those moves. The former administration had installed Russell T. Vought, its budget chief, as the bureau’s acting head.

Inspectors general serve as internal watchdogs within federal agencies, tasked with identifying and preventing waste, fraud, inefficiency, and abuses of power. Their establishment in 1978 marked a significant congressional reform following the Watergate scandal.

Horowitz was among the few inspectors general who remained in office when the previous president dismissed up to 17 watchdogs across major departments shortly after taking office, actions that diminished oversight of the administration’s use of authority.

Since those removals, eight former inspectors general have filed a lawsuit challenging the dismissals, arguing they violated a law requiring the president to notify Congress in advance and provide a detailed explanation for such firings.