WASHINGTON — A Senate subcommittee has found that the official who served as the Department of Homeland Security’s acting inspector general from 2011 to 2013 “jeopardized the independence” of his office by delaying reports and alerting department officials about their contents.

In a 29-page report released on Thursday, a subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees contracts said that the official, Charles Edwards, a longtime federal employee, had been “openly seeking a nomination” to become the department’s permanent inspector general. Mr. Edwards resigned in December, shortly before a scheduled hearing by the panel on his tenure.

Shortly after the report was released, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh C. Johnson, said that Mr. Edwards, who was reassigned to a science and technology job in the department, had been placed on administrative leave.

“Other individuals who are apparently and allegedly implicated have already left D.H.S., and if additional information comes to light, I will continue to take appropriate action,” Mr. Johnson said.