WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The Oversight Project announced that Hon. Joseph E. Schmitz, who previously served as the fifth Senate-confirmed Inspector General for the US Department of Defense (DoD) from 2002 to 2005, will serve as the group’s Distinguished Constitutional Fellow and oversee legal activities as well as their ongoing transparency investigations.
At the DoD, Schmitz led the most expansive Inspector General organization in the world, with statutory policy oversight responsibility for roughly 60,000 auditors, investigators, inspectors, law enforcement officers, and oversight professionals. For his service at DoD, Schmitz was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, which is the highest honorary award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career federal employees.
In 2013, Schmitz authored “THE INSPECTOR GENERAL HANDBOOK: FRAUD, WASTE, ABUSE, AND OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL ‘ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC’,” with endorsements by, among others, former U.S. Senator and Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, former FBI Director Louie Freeh, and former U.S. Senator and U.S. Circuit Judge for the D.C. Circuit, the late Honorable James L. Buckley (for whom Joe clerked).
From 2022 to 2024, Mr. Schmitz served as one of 14 Commissioners on the independent Congressionally-chartered Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics. He is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Virginia Chapter) as an “Outstanding American.”
The Oversight Project, now its own independent organization operating as a C-4 entity after previously part of the Heritage Foundation, will benefit from Schmitz’s experience as the former Pentagon watchdog. His decades of experience will be instrumental in holding government agencies at all levels accountable. Schmitz knows how to smash through any barriers to transparency to ensure that taxpayer dollars are always accountable to the American People. Schmitz’s leadership at the Oversight Project will be essential to the organization’s mission to usher in the Golden Age of Accountability and Transparency in Government.
“Accountability isn’t about partisanship—it’s a duty rooted in the Constitution. Without transparency, liberty cannot be protected,” said Oversight Project Distinguished Constitutional Fellow Joseph Schmitz. He added, “I’m honored to join the Oversight Project.
in this critical mission to demand answers and expose the truth from any taxpayer-funded government resources. The era of unchecked government ends where oversight begins.”
Oversight Project President, Mike Howell said “We’re thrilled to welcome Joe Schmitz to the team. Joe brings not only an unmatched record of integrity and service, but a fearless commitment to exposing government abuse. As we charge forward into what President Trump has called the Golden Age, Joe’s leadership will be a force multiplier in our mission to uncover the truth and hold the powerful to account. We are a government OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE and that is why our motto proclaims, It’s your government.”
BIO: Joseph E. Schmitz, Distinguished Constitutional Fellow, The Oversight Project, previously served as the fifth Senate-confirmed Inspector General of the Department of Defense from April 2002 to September 2005. As such, he was agency head of the most expansive Inspector General organization in the world, with statutory policy oversight responsibility for roughly 60,000 auditors, investigators, inspectors, law enforcement officers, and oversight professionals throughout the Department of Defense. For his service as Inspector General of the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the highest honorary award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career federal employees.
Prior to his service as Inspector General of the Department of Defense, Mr. Schmitz was a Partner in the international law firm of Patton Boggs LLP. His pre-Inspector General public service included: law clerk to the Honorable James L. Buckley, Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, the Honorable Edwin Meese III. In 2022, he was appointed as a Commissioner on the independent Congressionally-chartered Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics ( https://www.csusop.org/).
Mr. Schmitz has published numerous articles and has testified as a constitutional expert before U.S. Senate committees, and before various state legislature committees. From 1995 until 2002,he was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he developed and taught a seminar on advanced Constitutional Law. In May 2013, the Center for Security Policy Press published Mr. Schmitz’ latest book, “THE INSPECTOR GENERAL HANDBOOK: FRAUD, WASTE, ABUSE, AND OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL ‘ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC’.” Mr. Schmitz graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1978, and earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Stanford University in 1986. He is a Newsmax “Insider” on constitutional issues under the banner, “Support and Defend.” He is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Virginia Chapter) as an “Outstanding American.”
BACKGROUND ON OVERSIGHT PROJECT
The Heritage Foundation’s commitment to government transparency measures in the law has provided the Oversight Project with the essential tools and platform needed to expose bureaucratic overreach and keep the public informed. Now, “The Oversight Project” is taking the opportunity to set off as a 501c(4) intended to take firm action in holding government officials accountable. Through Freedom of Information Acts (FOIA) requests, comprehensive policy analysis, and legal action, the initiative will uncover fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in government at the local, state and federal levels.
As the Oversight Project moves forward independent of the Heritage Foundation, it will have greater flexibility to create meaningful policy reform and eliminate corruption wherever it is exposed. This new chapter allows the Oversight Project to engage more directly in legal and
political battles while ensuring that transparency in government remains a pillar of the free republic of the United States of America. In this new chapter, the Oversight Project is ready to take on the challenges ahead, hold the government accountable, and be a champion for transparency.
The Oversight Project is committed to creating a government that is responsible and accountable to its citizens. By using the Freedom of Information Act requests and other transparency measures in the law, the Oversight Project makes government more transparent to the public and helps Congress use its authority with maximum efficiency. The Oversight Project primarily engages in disseminating information to the public and supporting President Trump during the Golden Age of Transparency and Accountability in Government.