WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired about 17 independent government agency inspectors, a sweeping move to eliminate oversight of his recent administration that some members of Congress suggest violated federal oversight laws.
The layoffs began Friday evening and were effective immediately, according to two people familiar with the actions. They spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public. Neither confirmed the exact number of burnings, but an email sent by one of the inspectors general said that “around 17” inspectors general had been removed.
Congress did not receive 30 days of notice of the removals – something even a top Republican is deciphering.
“There may be good reason why the IGs were fired. We need to know if so,” Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “I want another statement from President Trump. Regardless, the 30-day detailed notice of removal stated that the bill had not been provided to Congress,” said Grassley, R-Iowa.
The current inspector general role comes from post-Watergate Washington, when Congress installed offices within agencies as an independent check against mismanagement and abuse of power. Although inspectors general are the presidential appointee, some presidents of both parties serve. Everyone is expected to be impartial.
Senator Lindsey Graham, R.C.
But Democrats and watchdog groups used the layoffs to raise alarm that Trump was making the government easier to exploit.
“Inspectors general are the police officers who beat the beat of stopping bad things from happening,” Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, said in a statement. “Their work saves taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year.”
The White House did not comment Saturday. President Donald Trump was in Las Vegas for a speech focused on his campaign promise to end the federal tax on tips.
But the moves coincided with the president’s first week in the White House, which unveiled a series of steps to reshape the federal government. Trump has done everything from using executive orders to end freezes and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to suggestions that he would shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency and leave disaster recovery to individual states affected by major emergencies are affected.
“Yesterday, in the dark of night, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals at key federal agencies across the administration,” Senate Rep. Chuck Schumer of New York said on the chamber floor Saturday. “This is a shocking purge and it is a preview of the lawless approach that Donald Trump and his administration have taken far too often as he becomes president.”
Schumer said the firings “may violate federal law” and helps demonstrate that the move is “a glaring sign that this represents a golden age for abuse in government and even corruption.”
The Washington Post, which first reported the shootings, said many were from Trump’s first term. General inspectors reportedly included those for the departments of agriculture, commerce, defense and education.
However, this round of firings included Michael Horowitz, the longtime Justice Department inspector general who has released reports on various politically explosive criminal investigations over the past decade.
For example, in December 2019, Horowitz released a report in which the FBI granted surveillance warrant requests in its investigation of ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. However, the report also found that this investigation had been opened for a legitimate purpose and found no evidence that partisan bias guided investigative decisions.
Aside from Horowitz’s status, the move against the watchdogs drew criticism from congressional Democrats.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar. D-Minnes noted that inspectors general are “critical to rooting out waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government.” The mass shooting was “alarming,” she said.
Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, a Democrat who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called it a “coup to overthrow legally protected independent inspectors.”
He also suggested that the move – just the fourth full day of Trump’s second term – could free up a number of positions that can subsequently be filled with loyalists who are strongly sympathetic to the Trump administration.
“Replacing independent inspectors general with political hacks will harm every American who relies on Social Security, veterans benefits and a fair hearing with IRS on refunds and audits,” Connolly said.
Still, Trump has aggressively challenged the authority of independent agency watchdog groups in the past.
In 2020, he replaced several key inspectors general, including those who run the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, as well as the inspector general overseeing the coronavirus special oversight package for the $2.2 trillion economic relief package.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called Trump’s actions “a purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night.”
“Inspectors general are accused of targeting government waste, fraud, abuse and misconduct,” Warren posted on X.
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Weissert reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press Writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
