They should possess the same autonomy and authority as special prosecutors or attorneys general to carry out their duties without fear of interference.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights could soon lose its executive director to a presidential nomination at the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
The FBI says it is getting serious about sexual harassment in its ranks, starting a 24/7 tip line, doing more to help accusers and taking a tougher stand against agents found to have committed misconduct.
The release of the report comes as the Defense Department continues to struggle with efforts to curtail sexual assault and harassment across the force.
Department of Defense components do not uniformly report civilian sexual harassment and assault, leading to an incomplete understanding of the problem and its potential solutions.