BREAKING: Trump Ousts Most Federal IGs in Late-Night Action
On Jan. 24, the Trump White House announced to Inspectors General of most cabinet-level agencies in the federal government that they were being removed, effective immediately. The news was broken by David Namakura, Lisa Rein, and Matt Viser of the Washington Post. The Post reporters reported that “The White House removed the independent inspectors general of nearly every Cabinet-level agency in an unprecedented purge that could clear the way for President Donald Trump to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste and abuse in the government.”
The Post journalists reported that “The inspectors general were notified late Friday by emails from White House personnel director Sergio Gor that they had been terminated immediately, according to people familiar with the actions, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private messages. The watchdogs at Homeland Security and Justice were the only Cabinet-level inspector generals spared. The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general. The legal uncertainty could create awkward encounters on Monday, when several watchdogs who were told they were fired planned to show up in their offices to work anyway,” they wrote.
Further, as the Post journalists noted, “It was unclear Saturday what motivated the removals, one of many first-week actions that have shown Trump’s willingness to purge the federal government of dozens of leaders — both career officials and those who are politically appointed — he views as disloyal to his agenda.”
However, on Saturday evening, the chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency said in a statement Saturday that the law regarding removing inspectors general must be followed.
“IGs are not immune from removal. However, the law must be followed to protect independent government oversight for America,” said Hannibal “Mike” Ware, who was fired from his role as inspector general of the Small Business Administration.
Ware highlighted the nonpartisan nature of IGs while detailing functions of the position. “IGs across the Federal government work every day on behalf of American taxpayers to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the programs and operations of their agencies,” he said.
On Saturday morning, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly, Josh Gerstein, Kyle Cheney, and Nahal Toosi, wrote that “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 immediately respond to a request for comment.”
Further, the POLITICO reporters wrote, “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,” they wrote.
And they added that “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.”
As The Hill’s Filip Timotija wrote on Saturday morning, “The independent watchdogs at these agencies are instructed to probe various allegations including abuse of power, fraud and waste. They can serve in multiple administrations. Former President Biden fired the inspector general of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) Martin Dickman after a probe over a hostile work environment, The Hill reported in late March last year. The Friday night reports have sparked backlash from Democrats on Capitol Hill,” he added, quoting several Democratic congressional leaders.
“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,” Ranking Member of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a Saturday morning statement, adding that “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.”
And Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that “This midnight purge of inspector generals, including at the USDA, is alarming and unprecedented. While the president has the right to replace inspector generals, the late-night firing of these independent watchdogs not only violates the law but also hampers our ability to combat waste, fraud, and abuse and ensure programs are run as Congress intended, whether its disaster assistance for farmers or nutrition programs. These firings threaten to undermine public trust at a time when many hardworking Americans doubt whether government institutions are looking out for them and reinforce the perception that politicians get to play by a different set of rules,” she added.
The POLITICO team of journalists reported that “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.”
And they quoted Diana Shaw, a former acting inspector general at the State Department, as saying that the dismissals were “the travesty we feared may be coming.”
The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage, and Annie Karni wrote that “Mr. Trump himself had appointed some of the inspectors general believed to have been fired, and it was unclear what criteria the White House had used in selecting who would be dismissed. There was also confusion about the precise scope of the purge, and senior Trump administration officials provided different numbers late Friday as to how many had been axed. Two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday night that 17 inspectors general had been terminated; a third person said on Saturday morning that the figure was at least 12. On Saturday morning, a White House official confirmed that “some” inspectors general had been dismissed, but did not respond to a request for a list of those who had been terminated,” they wrote. Further, they wrote, “The White House also did not respond to a request for comment about why Mr. Trump had defied the law that required him to provide advance notice and a detailed explanation to lawmakers, then wait a month.”
And they quoted Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and a self-styled champion of inspectors general, as saying that he was seeking more information. “There may be good reason the I.G.s were fired,” Grassley said, referring to the inspectors general. “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.”
The Times journalists also noted that Mr. Grassley and his fellow Republican senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, recently co-founded a bipartisan inspector general caucus to support the watchdog officials. In a statement, a spokesperson for Ms. Ernst said she ‘looks forward to learning more about this decision and working with the president to nominate replacements, so the important work of independent investigators to root out waste, fraud and abuse can continue with full transparency.’”
But, the Times reporters noted, “Democrats reacted with more forceful alarm,” quoting Senator Elizabeth Warren (D.-Ma.), who stated that “Inspectors general are charged with rooting out government waste, fraud, abuse and preventing misconduct. President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”
They reported that “The emails informing the inspectors general that they had been fired were sent by Trent Morse, the deputy director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. His terse messages concluded by thanking them for their service.”
This is a developing story. Healthcare Innovation will update readers as new developments emerge.