Donald Trump’s administration late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 12 major federal agencies charged with rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in government, according to the Washington Post.
The firings appeared to violate a federal law that requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of an intent to fire an inspector general.
“This is a chilling purge,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech on the Senate floor on Saturday. “This is Donald Trump’s way of telling us he’s terrified of accountability.”
Congress created the offices of inspectors general as part of the Watergate-era reforms following President Richard Nixon’s administration. Their job is to provide independent audits, inspections and investigations of government agencies.
After Trump dismissed the inspectors general of five Cabinet departments at the end of his first presidential term, Congress passed a law in 2022 that increased removal protections for the position, including requiring notice of the “substantive reasoning, including detailed and case specific reasons” for the takedown action.
Trump, who was sworn into his second term earlier this week, has provided no such notice to Congress.
“There may be a good reason the IGs were fired,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters on Saturday. “We need to know if that is the case. I would like further explanation from President Trump. In any case, the 30-day detailed notice of removal that the law requires has not been provided to Congress. ”
Grassley, a longtime advocate for inspectors general, includes two Trump nominees who will need Senate confirmation after his firing of inspectors general in June 2020.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, offered a sharper criticism of Trump’s blanket firings of inspectors.
“Trump’s Friday evening coup to overthrow legally protected independent inspectors general is an attack on transparency and accountability, essential ingredients in our democratic form of government,” Connolly said in a statement on Saturday. “Replacing independent inspectors general with political hacks will harm every American who relies on Social Security, veterans benefits and a fair IRS hearing on refunds and audits.”
