Posted on 01/25/25
| News Source: CNN
President Donald Trump fired the inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies in a Friday night purge, according to a Trump administration official, paving the way for him to install his own picks for the independent watchdog roles.
Agency inspectors general received an email late Friday from Sergio Gor, the head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, informing them that “changing priorities” had led to their positions being “terminated” effective immediately, according to a person familiar with the matter. The shake-up affected a broad swath of the federal government, including the departments of State, Energy, the Interior, Defense and Transportation.
During Trump’s first term, he gutted his administration of independent government watchdogs he saw as disloyal. An IG conducts investigations and audits into any potential malfeasance, fraud, waste or abuse by a government agency or its personnel, and issues reports and recommendations on its findings. An IG office is intended to operate independently.
Partly in reaction to Trump’s last IG firings, Congress built new guardrails intended to protect them. A 2022 law requires the White House to provide substantive rationale for terminating any inspector general.
The firings have prompted concern from some GOP senators, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a known “watchdog” for IGs, who said Congress wasn’t given the 30 days’ notice from the White House required by federal law.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Washington Post was first to report on the firings.