Trump fires independent inspectors general

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President Donald Trump fired multiple independent federal watchdogs, known as inspectors general, in a Friday night purge, removing a significant layer of accountability as he asserts his control over the federal government in his second term, according to two people with knowledge of the dismissals, granted anonymity to share details they were not authorized to speak about publicly.

The ousters set up what will likely be one of Trump’s first major court battles since taking office. At least one of the fired inspectors general — the State Department’s Cardell Richardson Sr. — has told staff he plans to show up to work on Monday, arguing that the firings are illegal, according to a person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to reveal the internal discussions. A State Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the two people briefed on the dismissals said the number is at least a dozen and includes inspectors general at the departments of State, Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Labor and Defense, as well as the Small Business Administration, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Together, those agencies make up large swaths of the federal government, with control over billions of dollars in taxpayer money and broad global reach.

The inspectors general at the Department of Justice, Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Communications Commission, the Export-Import Bank and the Department of Homeland Security remain in place, according to the person.

The inspectors general were dismissed via emails from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, with no notice sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have pledged bipartisan support for the watchdogs, in advance of the firings, the person said. The emails gave no substantive explanation for the dismissals, with at least one citing “changing priorities” for the move, the person added.

A senior White House official confirmed to POLITICO that “some” inspectors general had been fired.

Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Saturday evening, said that he didn’t know the inspectors general who were dismissed but that “some people thought that some were unfair, or some were not doing the job,” and maintained that the firings were “a very common thing to do.”

Asked whether he planned to install loyalists in those positions, Trump said that he didn’t “know anybody that would do that.”

“We’ll put people in there that will be very good,” he said.

Hannibal Ware, the inspector general of the Small Business Administration and leader of a council that represents inspectors general across government, suggested that the removals may be invalid because they appear to violate federal law requiring a 30-day notification to Congress before any watchdogs can be removed.

“I recommend that you reach out to White House Counsel to discuss your intended course of action,” Ware wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO to Sergio Gor, the director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. “At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.”

Diana Shaw, a former acting inspector general at the State Department, said the dismissals were “the travesty we feared may be coming.”

“If legal, and I think that’s an open question under the law requiring 30-day congressional notification prior to the firing of an IG, it risks changing forever what we have historically valued most about IGs — their independence, objectivity, and non-partisanship,” Shaw said. “Without it, the function would be gutted of its greatest value and the entire system will suffer.”

Some advocates for inspectors general said they were baffled by the Trump White House’s choices of whom to dismiss. Several of those who were fired were appointed by Trump and at least one — Sean O’Donnell at the EPA — was perceived as closely allied with Trump by Democrats, who sharply criticized his conduct.

The status of DOJ’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, has been most closely watched by advocates for the watchdogs because of his long tenure and the sensitivity of the matters his office has investigated.

An Obama appointee who assumed the IG post in 2012, Horowitz recently released sensitive reports detailing the Justice Department’s efforts to access call and email logs of congressional staffers and journalists, as well as on the FBI’s use of confidential human sources on Jan. 6, 2021. Horowitz also drew intense scrutiny over reports that catalogued the FBI’s handling of its investigation of Trump and his 2016 campaign’s contacts with Russia, as well as Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information on a private email server.

While people familiar with the moves said Horowitz appeared to have survived the culling Friday, a spokesperson for his office declined to comment on the developments.

Trump told reporters Saturday that he thought Horowitz’s report on former FBI Director James Comey’s missteps in the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was “incredible actually” and “such an accurate well-done report.”

Trump’s brazen move provides an early test for Congress, less than a week into Trump’s return to office, and in particular to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who has long championed the independence of inspectors general. And it shows how willing the president is to stretch the limits of his authority to dismantle the federal government bureaucracy that he and his allies label the “deep state.”

It also presents a test for Trump’s new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was narrowly confirmed by the Senate Friday night, with the Defense Department’s inspector general among those dismissed. Hegseth, in response to written questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during the confirmation process, said that he would “commit to protecting the DoD IG’s independence,” according to a document reviewed by POLITICO.

Inspectors general are tasked with ridding the government of waste, fraud and abuse, one of Trump’s stated goals. But he has remained long suspicious of federal government officials who he blames with stymieing action during his first term in office. Trump’s early picks for top government jobs show the value he is placing on loyalty above all else.

But even many Republicans celebrate the role of these watchdogs in protecting taxpayer interests and providing a check on the consolidation of administrative power.

Grassley told POLITICO in November that Trump shouldn’t pursue a broad ouster of inspectors general.

“I guess it’s the case of whether he believes in congressional oversight, because I work closely with all the inspector generals and I think I’ve got a good reputation for defending them. And I intend to defend them,” he said.

He struck a more measured tune Saturday morning, saying in a statement that there “may be a good reason the IGs were fired” and that he would like “further explanation” from Trump about the dismissals. But, he added, Congress was still not given the 30-day notice required by law.

Trump’s decision caught other Senate Republicans off guard as well, with several indicating when they arrived for a rare weekend session that they either hadn’t gotten a heads up from the White House or hadn’t heard of Trump’s actions.

“I don’t understand why one would fire individuals whose mission is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. So this leaves a gap in what I know is a priority for President Trump,” said GOP Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

But many of her colleagues shrugged off Trump’s decision, acknowledging that they needed more information but largely weren’t concerned.

“He’s the boss …We need to clean house,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).

The slew of firings prompted immediate outcry from several Democratic members of Congress.

Warren, in a post on X Saturday morning, said that Trump is “dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.” Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in a statement called the move a “Friday night coup” and an “attack on transparency and accountability.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Trump’s actions “a glaring sign that it’s a Golden Age for abuse in government and even corruption.”

“These firings are Donald Trump’s way of telling us he is terrified of accountability and is hostile to facts and to transparency,” he said on the Senate floor Saturday. “They’re the ones who tell the truth and shine a light on bad behavior.”