Senate Confirms Citadel Professor as Pentagon Inspector General
Platte Moring will oversee an office responsible for rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse across the sprawling Defense Department.
The United States Senate has confirmed Platte Moring, a professor at The Citadel, to serve as the next Inspector General for the Department of Defense, placing a Charleston educator at the helm of one of the federal government’s most consequential oversight offices.
The position carries extraordinary responsibility. The Pentagon Inspector General leads investigations into fraud, waste, and abuse across a department with an annual budget exceeding $800 billion and more than two million military and civilian employees worldwide.
Moring brings academic credentials and practical experience to the role. His time at The Citadel involved teaching and research on military affairs, defense policy, and government accountability, subjects directly relevant to the inspector general’s mission.
For The Citadel, the confirmation represents recognition of the military college’s expertise in matters of defense and national security. The school has produced numerous graduates who serve in senior military and civilian positions, but faculty appointments to senior federal posts remain relatively rare.
The inspector general position requires Senate confirmation and carries a term designed to provide independence from political pressure. The office produces reports that can reshape Pentagon programs, end careers, and redirect billions in spending when investigations reveal problems.
Recent inspectors general have examined everything from contractor performance in war zones to sexual assault prevention programs to the management of major weapons systems. The office’s findings carry weight with Congress and can trigger legislative action.
Moring’s confirmation passed with bipartisan support, a relative rarity for senior appointments in today’s polarized political environment. Senators from both parties have generally supported maintaining strong inspector general offices across the federal government.
The new inspector general will inherit ongoing investigations and an office that has sometimes clashed with Pentagon leadership over access to information and the scope of oversight authority.