Horowitz Leaves DOJ Inspector General Post – Update for July 11, 2025

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

BOP INMATES LOSE A CHAMPION

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, one of the only federal government inspectors general to survive President Trump’s January purge, has left his position to become IG of the Federal Reserve.

Bloomberg Law reports that Horowitz’s departure “has former officials and lawyers worried that an era of robust, independent oversight of law enforcement is ending at the worst possible moment.”

Horowitz’s successor will face a growing pile of complaints seeking probes into top DOJ officials and White House efforts to shrink the IG’s budget by 28%. As the DOJ’s largest agency by employees and the second largest by budget (next to the US Attorneys’ offices), the BOP has drawn substantial oversight from Horowitz. Well before the Federal Prison Oversight Act passed, mandating regular inspections of BOP facilities, Horowitz began sending teams to prisons for surprise audits. The IG’s office added detail and official gravitas to many of the complaints that inmates have lodged for years.

Some in the IG and whistleblower communities told Bloomberg Law that they hope Horowitz’s veteran deputy,  William M. Blier, takes over the iG office and maintains “the office’s reputation for bipartisan accountability.” Blier is running things for the time being, but some fear that a new appointee will be a puppet.

“Mr. Horowitz personified a public servant who followed the evidence wherever it led, regardless of political party,” said Tom Devine, legal director at the Government Accountability Project, which represents whistleblowers cooperating with the IG’s office. “He will be sorely missed because he will be the last credible official source of factfinding at the Department of Justice.”

Bloomberg Law, Veteran DOJ Watchdog’s Exit Spurs Fears of Lax Trump Oversight (June 27, 2025)

– Thomas L. Root