Michael McCuskey.

Remember the name, because you’ll be hearing it often if he’s successful. Or, if he lives up to his promises, you may not hear of him at all.

Such is the dilemma of being the Illinois General Assembly’s legislative inspector general, which lawmakers appointed McCuskey on Feb. 17.

McCuskey spent 32 years as a judge, half on the federal bench, a tenure marked with a reputation for giving tough criminal sentences, according to Capitol News Illinois, which quoted him as saying of lawmakers: “I want them to be a little scared of me.”

Anyone who hopes to instill order through fear or intimidation realizes the truest form of success is never having to flex muscle. If McCluskey is making a lot of headlines, that likely means the day one bravado didn’t rattle the right cages.

Conversely, such an outcome could be an indication that it doesn’t matter who sits in the chair when the office isn’t sufficiently powerful.

Former LIG Carol Pope – herself an experienced prosecutor and jurist – quit the job two years early through a stinging letter proclaiming the position “has no real power to effect change or shine a light on ethics violations.” She said the office needs subpoena power, the right to publish reports about lawmakers, clarity on jurisdiction between the office and the Legislative Ethics Commission and the appointment of a citizen to the commission explicitly to avoid the inevitable 4-4 votes that stall most significant action.

McCuskey didn’t get that power. He didn’t even get Pope’s employees, who left when she did in early January. CNI reports McCuskey can spend up to $920,000 to hire investigators but right now there’s no one but him to answer the phone, which he could do, or respond to email, which he can’t, because he doesn’t type.

The one thing McCuskey can do – something he never could as a judge – is initiate an investigation without getting approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission. However, he needs more than public allegations because of a 2020 bill requiring a formal complaint, a barrier lawmakers resurrected from 2009.

For McCuskey’s tenure to be truly successful, he has to do what Pope couldn’t: convince the General Assembly to give the LIG the power required to make the position something lawmakers would actually respect. Pope’s failure wasn’t for lack of trying, but merely another chapter in the long book of Illinois power brokers being unwilling cede control to anyone who might force them to stay in line.

McCuskey may well preside over a successful ethics investigation while completing Pope’s term. But absent continued efforts to substantially reform rules governing how lawmakers operate, his tough talk will be difficult to convert to significant action.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.