Late Friday, the White House conducted a sweeping purge against more than a dozen inspectors general, who are the watchdogs guarding against waste, fraud, and abuse at federal agencies. The New York Times reports that a total of 17 inspectors general got the axe. The Washington Post reports that the purge was likely illegal:
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.
Oversight of some of the government’s largest agencies was affected: the departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.
Though the Trump team had been reportedly looking to target several inspectors general in its big opening blitz after Trump took power, the scale of Friday night’s purge still came as a surprise to many, as the Post notes:
Most of those dismissed were Trump appointees from his first term, which stunned the watchdog community. One prominent inspector general survived the purge — Michael Horowitz at the Justice Department, an appointee of President Barack Obama who has issued reports critical of both the Biden administration and Trump’s first administration.
“It’s a widespread massacre,” said one of the fired inspectors general. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”
The emails informing the watchdogs of their dismissals rippled across the agencies Friday. Another fired inspector general learned of his ouster by reading the email for the first time while on the phone with a Washington Post reporter who had called to ask about it. The person reacted by saying the new administration “does not want anyone in this role who is going to be independent.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren quickly warned that “President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.” One of the inspectors responded to the White House, as well:
@meganmesserly @joshgersteinhttps://t.co/j83y9d9tXC pic.twitter.com/XUJgJ9c0A4
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 25, 2025
It’s not clear what recourse Congress has over the purge, or if its GOP leaders will even try to push back — or push back harder than this:
pic.twitter.com/EOJDhgzHG9
— Courtney Bublé (@courtneybuble) January 25, 2025
