Donald Trump’s administration late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 12 major federal agencies that are tasked with rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in the government, according to The Washington Post.
The dismissals 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 Saturday in a speech on the Senate floor. “This is Donald Trump’s way of telling us he’s terrified of accountability.”
Congress established the offices of inspectors general as part of its 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 the removal protections for the post, including requiring a notification as to the “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the removal action.
Trump, who was sworn into his second term earlier this week, has not provided Congress any such notice.
“There may be good reason the IGs were fired,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters on Saturday. “We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30-day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress.”
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Grassley, a longtime advocate of inspectors general, placed holds on two Trump nominees requiring Senate confirmation after his firings of inspectors general in June of 2020.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, offered a sharper criticism of Trump’s inspectors general firings.
“Trump’s Friday night 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 hearing at IRS on refunds and audits.”