The Trump administration has fired more than a dozen independent inspectors general across government agencies, a sweeping move to eliminate oversight of his new administration that some members of Congress have suggested violated federal oversight laws.
The firings began Friday night and are effective immediately, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been made public. The shooting was carried out without giving Congress 30 days’ notice to remove it, and even Republicans violated the law.
“There may be good cause for dismissal,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IOWA, said in a statement. “We need to know if that’s the case.” Grassley, R-IOWA, said: “I would like to explain President Trump further. Regardless, the 30-day detailed notice of removal does not provide Congress with the legal requirements.”
President Donald Trump Speaking Saturday in Las Vegas. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment.
The modern role of inspector general dates back to post-Watergate Washington, when Congress installed offices within agencies to avoid independent inspections of mismanagement and abuse of power. Although the Inspector General is a presidential appointee, some serve on both sides of the aisle. All are expected to be non-partisan.
“Yesterday, in a dark moment, President Trump fired at least 12 independent individuals at critical federal agencies across the government,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the chamber floor Saturday. Inspector General. “It’s a chilling clear-out, a preview of how often Donald Trump and his administration will become president.”
Schumer said the firings “may have violated federal law” and helped prove that the “move” was a clear signal that this was a golden age of government abuse and even corruption. “
The Washington Post, which first reported the firings, said most were appointees from Trump’s first term. Among those fired in the round was Michael Horowitz, the longtime Justice Department inspector general who released reports on a variety of politically explosive criminal investigations over the past decade.
For example, in December 2019, Horowitz provided a report to the FBI that pointed to federal investigations into Application for a surveillance order from the bureau. But the report also found that the investigation was conducted for legitimate purposes and found no evidence that partisanship guided investigative decisions.
Democrats are on fire with Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia.
Connolly said the depression constituted “an attack on transparency and accountability, fundamental elements of our democratic form of government.”
He also suggested that the move – which comes only on the fourth day of Trump’s second term – could free up a series of positions that could then be filled with loyalists who are strongly sympathetic to the Trump administration.
“Substituting political attacks for an independent inspector general will harm every American who relies on Social Security, veterans’ benefits and a fair hearing on refunds and audits from the IRS,” Connolly said.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called Trump’s move a “clearance of independent oversight in the middle of the night.”
Warren posted on X: “The inspector general is accused of fueling government waste, fraud, abuse and preventing misconduct.
Still, Trump has aggressively challenged the authority of independent watchdog groups in the past.
In 2020, he replaced multiple key inspectors, including the attorney general who led the Defense Department and intelligence community, and the inspector general as chairman of the special oversight committee on the $2.2 trillion economic relief package on the coronavirus.
