EPA Watchdog to Stay at Agency Despite New Coronavirus Role

The head of the EPA’s watchdog office will remain in that role, even as he takes a seat on the federal government’s board overseeing waste, fraud, and abuse under the $2 trillion coronavirus funding package, according to an agency spokeswoman.

Sean O’Donnell’s continuing tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General comes as the relationship between the EPA’s political leadership and its OIG has grown increasingly tense in recent months, owing mostly to investigations that began before O’Donnell’s tenure began last December.

The Trump administration on Tuesday named O’Donnell to be the new Defense Department’s acting inspector general. In that role, O’Donnell also becomes a member of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.

• O’Donnell replaces Glenn Fine, who was removed by President Donald Trump, as acting Defense Department inspector general. Fine also was removed from his role as watchdog of U.S. government spending on the pandemic.
• O’Donnell’s nomination for the EPA job was broadly praised by both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during his October 2019 confirmation hearing.
• Prior to becoming EPA IG, O’Donnell had served since 2005 as a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s criminal division.