Profiles · Oversight
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Oversight and enforcement
- Programs
- PPP, EIDL, Unemployment insurance
- Updated
The profile
Inspector General of the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB since June 30, 2025; formerly Department of Justice Inspector General and, until March 2026, head of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
In the archive
- Interactive: Where Pandemic-Oversight Lawyers Went Next
Identity and role
Michael E. Horowitz served as Inspector General of the Department of Justice (until his 2025 move to the Federal Reserve; DOJ OIG page and Federal Reserve release) and Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), the inter-agency body created by the CARES Act to coordinate oversight of pandemic spending.
Biography / career arc
DOJ Inspector General → PRAC Chair (2020) → Inspector General of the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB (2025) (Federal Reserve release); earlier career items are cited to the DOJ OIG page, whose capture does not carry them all.
Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role
As PRAC chair he oversaw the committee's cross-program oversight and data-analytics work (PRAC site capture).
Horowitz is not a PPP-company figure. PRAC coordinated inspectors general across PPP, EIDL, unemployment insurance, health spending and Treasury/Fed programs (PRAC site capture). His operational leadership at PRAC included Executive Director Robert Westbrooks and Deputy Executive Director Linda Miller. On the PRAC board were program-specific watchdogs including SBA IG Hannibal Ware, DOL IG Larry Turner, and SIGPR Brian Miller.
In June 2025 the Federal Reserve announced that Horowitz would become Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board effective June 30, 2025; by statute that office also serves as Inspector General for the CFPB. His stepping down as PRAC Chair effective March 1, 2026, with William W. Kirk (SBA Inspector General) succeeding him, was announced by the PRAC and SBA OIG on February 17, 2026.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
Became IG of the Federal Reserve and CFPB (Federal Reserve release of June 6, 2025).
Additional public-record notes
Lobbying & industry ties
None. Career oversight official.
Sources held in this archive
Original source documents and archived captures
- PRAC archived sources folder
- DOJ Office of Inspector General, Michael E. Horowitz biography
- Federal Reserve Board, "Michael E. Horowitz appointed Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Fi...
- Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, official site
Sources
- Federal Reserve Board, "Michael E. Horowitz appointed Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" (June 6, 2025): Federal Reserve Board, "Michael E. Horowitz appointed Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Fi... (original: federalreserve.gov · stored capture)
- Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, official site: https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/ local copy
- DOJ Office of Inspector General, Michael E. Horowitz biography: DOJ Office of Inspector General, Michael E. Horowitz biography (original: oig.justice.gov · stored capture)
- Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, "William W. Kirk Appointed Chair of CIGIE's Pandemic Response Accountability Committee" (Feb. 17, 2026): https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/news/articles/william-w-kirk-appointed-chair-of-cigies-pandemic-response-accountability-committee SBA Office of Inspector General, "SBA Inspector General William W. Kirk Appointed Chairman of CIGIE's Pandemic Response Accountability Committee" (Feb. 17, 2026), effective March 1, 2026: https://legacy.sba.gov/article/2026/02/17/sba-inspector-general-william-w-kirk-appointed-chairman-cigies-pandemic-response-accountability Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, "Our Committee Members" (Kirk appointed Chair in March 2026, "replacing outgoing Acting Chair Michael E. Horowitz"): https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/about-us/our-committee-members local copy