On Wednesday, Senate Democrats brought forward and supported an unvetted candidate to serve as the next Legislative Inspector General (LIG), sidestepping the Senate Ethics Commission’s search process and ignoring the recommendation of the non-partisan search committee. Following the party-line vote to appoint Michael P. McCuskey as LIG, State Senator Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles) issued the following statement:
“Illinois is well-known as a hotbed of political corruption, so it should surprise no one that Democrats did an end-run around statutory processes and hand-picked the individual they would like to see in the role of Legislative Inspector General. They brought this candidate forward without having the individual go through the statutory vetting process, a process that Mr. McCuskey himself recognized as necessary to ensure unfettered independence and qualification.
“There was no transparency or citizen oversight whatsoever with how the Democrats rammed through their hand-picked choice for Legislative Inspector General. Illinois desperately needs an independent LIG, and what transpired in the Senate today completely undermines vital review measures that ensure our LIG is not beholden to any person or any political party.”
Michael McCuskey is a former public defender and former circuit, appellate, and federal judge. He retired from the court in 2020.