Ombudsmen in the United States

See Ombudsman for the definitions and examples of other ombudsman throughout the globe.

In the United States, there is no unified federal ombudsman service. The role of handling complaints against federal authorities has to some extent been unofficially incorporated into the role of the US Congressman. This informal job has become increasingly time consuming. It is subject to criticism on the grounds that it interferes with a legislator's primary duty, namely to read and be knowledgeable about a bill before casting his or her vote.

Several ombudsman services have been created as complaint-handling units housed within, but operationally independent from, specific federal authorities.

In 1979 the Taxpayer Ombudsman Office was created within the Internal Revenue Service to act as an ombudsman for the taxpayer. Renamed in 1996 as the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, this office has a unique role with the Treasury Department as having the responsibility to submit annual reports to Congress without any prior review or comment from the IRS Commissioner, the Secretary of the Treasury, any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury, or the Office of Management and Budget.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) provides recommendations for resolving individual and employer problems with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 § 452, the CIS Ombudsman is not a part of USCIS, but an independent DHS office which reports directly to the DHS Deputy Secretary.

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