U.S. watchdog office that monitored spending in Afghanistan to close on January 31

A U.S. government oversight agency that for nearly two decades tracked waste, fraud and abuse in American spending on Afghanistan is scheduled to shut down on January 31, 2026.

The office, known as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), was created by the U.S. Congress in 2008 to independently review how billions of dollars in military, development and humanitarian aid were used in Afghanistan. It conducted audits, inspections and investigations to detect misuse of funds and recommend changes to improve accountability.

Over its lifetime, SIGAR documented thousands of instances of waste, fraud and abuse in U.S.-led reconstruction programs and reported on projects that failed to meet goals or were never completed. In its final reports, the office estimated that tens of billions of dollars intended for Afghanistan reconstruction were lost or mismanaged, and it highlighted systemic problems in planning, oversight and execution of U.S. efforts.

The closure of SIGAR comes as part of U.S. defense policy changes that set a deadline for the agency’s work to end this month.