President Donald Trump has taken the unprecedented step of firing at least 17 inspectors general, independent watchdogs who oversee federal agencies, without following the mandated 30-day notice to Congress. This move has sparked outrage from both sides of the aisle, with critics accusing Trump of undermining accountability and transparency.
In a late-night Friday move, President Donald Trump fired at least 17 independent watchdogs -- known as inspectors general -- at multiple federal agencies, sources familiar with the move told ABC News. Inspectors general can be fired by the president, but it can only happen after communicating with Congress 30 days in advance. In 2022, Congress strengthened the law requiring administrations to give a detailed reasoning for the firing of an IG.
There isn't yet a complete list of all the IG's impacted, but at least one high-profile watchdog — Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz — did not receive notice that he was fired as of yesterday evening. Horowitz is an Obama appointee and has issued reports that have been critical of both the Trump and Biden administrations. The current law also mandates that any acting IG's must come from within the IG community, though it's unclear whether the Trump White House believes they need to follow that aspect of the law. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told ABC News earlier this week that the president must tell Congress before removal. 'First of all to remind that our Inspector General can't be removed from office until the president, and that's any president, not just Trump. So this is a message to all these presidents you've got to tell Congress a month ahead of time the reasons for removing them,' Grassley said. He added, 'And the other thing is that inspector generals are expected to be independent of political pressure, independent of the head of the agency, and to make sure that the law is enforced and money spent appropriately, and there shouldn't be any political pressure against any of his work.' 'There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump,' Grassley said in a statement given to ABC News. 'Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress.' In floor remarks Saturday morning, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer ripped into the Trump administration for the move, saying that the dismissals are a possible violation of federal law. 'These firings are Donald Trump's way of telling us he is terrified of accountability and is hostile to facts and to transparency,' Schumer said
DONALD TRUMP INSPECTORS GENERAL FEDERAL AGENCIES CONGRESS ACCOUNTABILITY TRANSPARENCY
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