WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday that it would overhaul the disciplinary process for its employees after The New York Times reported that the agency’s inspector general removed damaging findings from investigative reports about domestic violence and sexual misconduct committed by employees.
“The deeply concerning reports this spring underscored the need for urgent action,” Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said in a statement that quoted the Times article, adding that the changes would include “centralizing the decision-making process for disciplinary actions” so that “allegations of serious misconduct are handled by a dedicated group of well-trained individuals, who are not the employees’ immediate supervisors.”
Mr. Mayorkas announced a review of the department’s disciplinary process in April, after The Times published its article; it was based on internal documents first obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, an independent watchdog group in Washington.
