In the post-Watergate era, Congress shored up the integrity and transparency of the executive branch by creating inspector general offices and charging them to ferret out misconduct and abuse and report it to the public. The offices were correctly deemed an essential supplement to the traditional checks and balances engrafted by the founders into American democracy, in that they could bring to light abuses that the president or his appointees might otherwise cover up.

The U.S. Department of Justice was arguably the agency most in need of independent scrutiny, but it took 10 years before the law was updated to include it. Even then, the department’s new inspector general’s purview did not extend to key agencies under the department’s umbrella, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Aldrich Ames spy scandal of the 1990s eventually motivated Congress to include the DEA and the FBI. But still, to this day, Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz lacks jurisdiction over Justice Department lawyers, which includes the 93 U.S. attorneys in the states and territories, the more than 300 lawyers who work under them, and all the other lawyers who work directly under the attorney general or the various other offices of his department.

That’s a huge loophole. It unwisely allows the attorney general to shield his legal staff — and himself — from independent investigations into their suspected misconduct.

That potential for politicization, which can fuel a corrosive lack of public confidence in the department, exists in any administration,

But the legislation always hits a roadblock. The Inspector General Access Act has bipartisan support, and has passed in the House and could clear the Senate — if only Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland lifts his ill-considered objections.

Two companion pieces of legislation are likewise worthy, and one is even less controversial. The Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2021 would limit a president’s ability to replace inspectors general with temporary appointees not subject to Senate confirmation. The IG Testimonial Subpoena Authority Act would eliminate ex-employees’ exemptions from subpoena, so that they could not avoid testifying merely by quitting their jobs. All three bills deserve approval.