By Jeff Overley

Law360 (May 26, 2020, 10:37 PM EDT) -- The watchdog for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned House lawmakers Tuesday against threats to the independence of inspectors general, and the former leader of the HHS Office of Inspector General defended his successor's investigative work on COVID-19 in an exclusive interview with Law360.

Christi Grimm, principal deputy inspector general for HHS, voiced the concern during a two-hour hearing staged via videoconference by the Democratic-controlled House Oversight Committee. The hearing, technically billed as a briefing for committee members, focused on the Trump administration's pandemic response, and Grimm was the only witness.

Grimm is the leader of the HHS Office of Inspector General, but President Donald Trump announced a replacement shortly after her office spotlighted major supply shortages at hospitals bracing for a surge of coronavirus patients in early April.

Here are three highlights from Tuesday's hearing.

Don't 'Impair Independence,' Watchdog Says

In addition to HHS, Trump has recently moved to replace watchdogs supervising pandemic relief funding, the intelligence community and the U.S. Departments of State and Transportation. The spree has provided critics with ammunition to accuse the president of insulating himself and his lieutenants from accountability.

"Are you concerned professionally that the independence of IGs, or your own independence, are at risk or might be compromised by recent statements and actions taken by the [president]?" Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., asked Grimm on Tuesday.

In response, Grimm said she would address "the importance of independence for inspectors general," calling it "a foundational element of the work of any IG."

"It's what allows us to bring our objective judgment to bear on problems without worrying about whether those that run the programs are hearing what they want to hear," Grimm said.

She added: "We follow the facts wherever they lead. We are impartial ... And really anything that is done that could impair independence I think compromises the effectiveness of oversight of programs."

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., later asked Grimm whether she is concerned that "if you say something or do something that is offensive to the president, that you will be removed from office."

Grimm replied, "I, personally and professionally, cannot let the idea of providing unpopular information drive decision-making in the work that we do."

Ex-Chief Praises Successor

The last U.S. Senate-confirmed inspector general for HHS was Daniel R. Levinson, who was nominated to his post in the mid-2000s by former President George W. Bush and announced his retirement in April 2019.

It wasn't until May 1 of this year — about 13 months after Levinson's retirement announcement, but only about three weeks after Grimm's office released the unflattering report on coronavirus testing and supplies at hospitals — that Trump said he had selected a permanent leader for the HHS OIG.

In an interview with Law360 on Tuesday, Levinson pushed back against the idea that Grimm — who has been with the HHS OIG for more than 20 years — has allowed partisanship to affect her office's work.

"I do think it's been unfair to suggest she operates with a political agenda," Levinson said. "She is the quintessential career executive."

Some Republicans in Congress have asserted that the report didn't present a complete portrait of the administration's work.

"I'm deeply concerned with the flawed methodology that HHS OIG used to create this biased report," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the committee's ranking member, said Tuesday.

But Levinson told Law360 that the report appeared to be fully in line with the HHS OIG's exacting standards.

"It did not strike me as out of the ordinary at all," Levinson said. "I was surprised that it made the kind of news that it did."

Trump has chosen Jason Weida, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, to helm the HHS OIG. The fact the Trump announced Weida just a few weeks after the report on hospital supplies might indicate that Weida was already on the administration's radar, Levinson said.

"Chances are he was in the mix for something and maybe this in particular," Levinson told Law360.

A spokesperson for the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday had no update on when a confirmation session will be held on Weida's nomination. Levinson called the lag noteworthy.

"The fact that it's taking a month for the official nomination to go forward perhaps suggests that [Weida's nomination announcement] was accelerated," Levinson said.

Weida has been at the U.S. Department of Justice since 2016. He was previously a litigation associate at Jones Day and at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, according to his LinkedIn biography.

Strategic Plan Eyes Billions in Virus Relief Funds

In conjunction with Tuesday's hearing, the HHS OIG released a strategic plan outlining its priorities for scrutinizing COVID-19 issues. The plan was broken down into four sections that focused heavily on the office's bread-and-butter work of preventing fraud and abuse.

"We know from experience that fraud schemes proliferate during emergencies as greedy perpetrators exploit fear and confusion to steal," Grimm told lawmakers.

Some aspects of the strategic plan are likely to be of special importance to health care providers. One section, for example, vowed scrutiny of $175 billion in provider relief funds that Congress has authorized.

The HHS OIG intends to "audit fund recipients to assess whether they met use, reporting and other requirements, and, where appropriate, recommend recovery of misspent funds," according to the strategic plan.

Separate from its strategic plan, the HHS OIG on Friday announced an audit aimed at ensuring providers were eligible for $50 billion in "general allocation" relief funds that HHS has been shelling out as part of the $175 billion pool.

"The HHS IG's office is crucial in ensuring that the $175 billion that Congress gave to HHS for emergency relief under the CARES Act is spent effectively and efficiently," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the committee's chairwoman, said Tuesday.

Grimm on Tuesday also called attention to a portion of the strategic plan dedicated to "emergency flexibilities" that HHS has created to speed up access to coronavirus care. Without offering details, she singled out the dramatic expansion of reimbursement for virtual doctor's office visits via phone or video, saying that the HHS OIG will be "looking at work examining the impact of expanded telehealth in Medicare."

--Editing by Jill Coffey.

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