HR 2181 United States House · 119th Congress

Protect Our Watchdogs Act of 2025

HR 2181, the Protect Our Watchdogs Act of 2025, strengthens protections for federal Inspectors General (IGs) by requiring the President to have specific, documented reasons to remove them. The bill amends federal law to specify nine grounds for removal, including documented felony convictions, gross mismanagement, waste of funds, abuse of authority, or neglect of duty - each requiring written justification. This directly affects IGs who oversee federal agency accountability and investigations, as it prevents arbitrary removals and mandates transparency in the process. The law applies to all federal Inspectors General across agencies, ensuring their independence is maintained through clear, enforceable standards.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

President

Introduced Mar 18, 2025 Last action Sep 8, 2025

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Sep 8, 2025

Introduced

ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Bell asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 2181, a bill originally introduced by Representative Connolly, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.

lower

Mar 18, 2025

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

lower

Mar 18, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 32 co-sponsors