WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The inspector general's office in the Department of Homeland Security has stopped telling news organizations when its reports are published.
The change is the initiative of Acting Inspector General Richard Skinner, who took over the post last December after his predecessor, Clark Kent Ervin, failed to win confirmation from the senate.
Under Ervin, who has said he experienced pressure to tone down his criticisms of the department while he was in post, journalists who covered the department were notified by e-mail when a new report was posted on the inspector general's web site.
"Getting congressional and media attention was an important means of making sure the issues we were raising became priorities for the department," Ervin told United Press International.
Ervin declined to comment on the new policy, saying he wanted to "stay in my lane" and not second guess his predecessor.
The change was not formally announced, but staff in Skinner's office say it was quietly introduced at the beginning of the year.
Skinner was unwilling to comment on the new policy, according to an aide.
