FHFA said on September 30, 2026, that it will set a “Peer-Matched” budget for its Office of Inspector General (OIG), citing zero-based budgeting and a comparison with peer inspector general offices. The announcement gives no final dollar allocation, staffing level, timetable, peer list or calculation method, so the size of any reduction is not yet clear.
Why is FHFA changing the OIG budget?
FHFA said its adoption of zero-based budgeting prompted it to examine expenditures and compare its OIG with peer offices. In its September 30, 2026 announcement, the agency said the comparison showed that FHFA’s OIG was an “extraordinary budgetary outlier.” FHFA described the new allocation as a way to make the budget “efficient and right-sized.”
That is FHFA’s stated rationale, not an independently documented finding: the release does not identify the peer agencies or disclose how the benchmark was calculated.
What figures did FHFA cite?
FHFA compared the OIG’s requested share of the agency’s operating budget and workforce with averages it attributed to inspector general offices across the federal government.
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| Measure | FHFA OIG | Average cited by FHFA |
|---|---|---|
| Share of agency operating budget | 16% requested | Approximately 2% |
| Share of agency workforce | 18% | 4% |
These percentages are FHFA’s claims in its 2026 announcement. The release does not provide the comparison period, underlying data or method, so readers cannot independently assess how the averages were assembled or how closely the peer offices match FHFA.
How much is FHFA cutting?
The announcement does not state the final OIG budget in dollars, the number of positions it will support or when the allocation will take effect. FHFA’s cited percentages describe the OIG’s requested budget share and staffing share alongside agency-wide averages; they do not establish the amount ultimately allocated. It is therefore not possible to calculate the cut from this release.
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Historical figures provide context but not the missing decision. FHFA’s FY2024 Performance and Accountability Report lists an OIG budget of $57.0 million for FY2024 and $58.5 million for FY2025. The report gives FY2024 agency operating expenses of $318.8 million and a FY2025 agency operating budget of $350.0 million. Those figures distinguish FY2024 actuals from FY2025 budget figures; neither is the later peer-matched allocation. The report also lists 122 OIG employees at FY2024 year end and 155 positions supported in FY2025.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did a professional peer review recommend the budget change?
The available announcements document two different kinds of comparison, but do not establish a causal link between them. FHFA’s budget comparison concerns the relative size of OIG budgets among peer offices. Professional OIG peer reviews instead assess quality-control systems and whether work follows applicable standards; they are not the same exercise as setting a budget benchmark.
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The FHFA-OIG peer-review page lists an external audit peer review dated September 3, 2025, an inspections and evaluations review dated August 6, 2025, and an investigative operations qualitative assessment dated July 5, 2023. The audit review was conducted by the SEC OIG. Its September 3, 2025 report examined FHFA-OIG’s audit quality-control system for the year ended March 31, 2025, and gave it a “pass” rating. The report concluded that the system was suitably designed and complied with to provide reasonable assurance of conformity with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements in all material respects.
That pass rating is an assessment of audit quality control. It does not validate FHFA’s budget benchmark, and the sources do not say that the audit peer review prompted or recommended the budget action. The Federal Reserve OIG’s peer-review overview likewise describes professional reviews as assessments of quality-control systems and applicable standards—not budget comparisons.
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What remains unknown
- The final OIG allocation and how it compares with the prior-year budget.
- The number of positions the allocation will support and the implementation timetable.
- Which peer OIGs FHFA selected and what data and calculation produced the benchmark.
- Whether FHFA’s budget comparison used comparable missions, agency sizes, fiscal years or accounting methods.
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