In a move late Friday, 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.
Talks about removing these government guards It started during the Trump transition Back to the White House.
While the inspector general can be fired by the president, it can only happen after communicating with Congress 30 days in advance, and in 2022 Congress strengthened the law requiring administrations to give a specific reason for firing an IG.
There is not yet a complete list of all those affected by the IG, but at least one top watchdog — IG Michael Horowitz of the Department of Justice — was not announced as of yesterday afternoon.
Horowitz is an Obama appointee and has published reports critical of both the Trump and Biden administrations.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on January 23, 2025 in Washington.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Current law also mandates that any actionable IG must come from within the IG community, though it’s unclear whether the Trump White House is required 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 removing it.
“The first thing to remember is that our Inspector General cannot be removed from office until the president, and that’s any president, not just Trump. So this is a message to all of these presidents that you need to tell Congress months in advance of the reasons for removing them,” Grassley said.
He added: “And the other thing is that the inspector general is expected to be independent from political pressure, to be independent from the head of the agency, and to make sure that the law is followed and the money is spent properly, and there should not be political pressure against any of his work.”
Grassley said Saturday that Congress did not need to give him another 30 days notice.
“There may be good reasons the IGs were fired. If so, we need to know. I would like more explanation from President Trump,” Grassley said in a statement to ABC News. “In any event, the detailed 30-day notice of removal required by law was not provided to Congress.”
In remarks Saturday morning, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer attacked the Trump administration, saying the layoffs are a possible violation of federal law.
“These firings are Donald Trump’s way of saying that he is afraid of accountability and that he is against facts and transparency,” Schumer said.
It was launched by Republican Senator Joni Ernst bipartisan IG caucus just ten days ago.
