US Labor Department inspector general retires after warning of fraud

Dahl said the decision "has been long in the works and is for entirely personal reasons," adding that he was not "told or asked to resign."


J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

By REBECCA RAINEY

06/02/2020

Labor Department Inspector General Scott Dahl announced Tuesday he was retiring from his post just a day after warning lawmakers of massive fraud in the unemployment insurance system, becoming the latest watchdog to exit the Trump administration.

Dahl, who will leave the office effective June 21, said the decision "has been long in the works and is for entirely personal reasons," adding that he was not "told or asked to resign."

"The Department and the people it serves have benefited greatly from his contributions," Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said in a statement. "We wish Scott and his family the very best in the future.”

On Monday, Dahl and other officials from his office told a House oversight subcommittee that they've seen a "significant amount of fraud" in unemployment programs during the coronavirus pandemic. He told lawmakers that DOL punted on his recommendation that states should collect more earnings information from applicants to combat the fraud.

Dahl also said he was "very surprised" that DOL's Occupational Safety and Health Administration had only issued one citation during the entire Covid-19 pandemic.

"This is something that we're planning on turning our attention to to look at [OSHA's] enforcement activities and seeing if they are following their standards, and what can be done to make them more efficient, effective," he told lawmakers.

During the briefing Dahl also suggested, in response to a lawmaker, that he could investigate Scalia for pressing a federal retirement board to reverse plans to begin investing in a new index that includes Chinese companies. The board's decision came after Scalia and White House officials applied pressure.

His exit comes as the Trump administration has seen an exodus of watchdogs across the federal government, including Glenn Fine, who resigned from the Defense Department inspector general's office last month.

President Donald Trump has ousted Michael Atkinson as inspector general of the intelligence community, Steve Linick as the top State Department watchdog and acting Transportation Department inspector general Mitch Behm.