The affected inspectors general received emails from the director of presidential staff on Friday night saying that “due to a change in priorities, your position as inspector general … is being terminated, effective immediately,” CBS News, the BBC’s US affiliate, reported.
The group of fired watchdogs includes the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services and the inspector general of the Small Business Administration, CBS reported.
According to the New York Times, competing lists of fired observers circulated. Monitors at the ministries of agriculture, commerce, defense, education, housing and utilities, interior, labor, transportation, and veterans affairs, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, were reportedly considered.
It is not yet clear who the Trump administration may choose to fill the new vacancies.
Congress created inspector generals after the Watergate scandal as part of a wave of reforms aimed at curbing corruption, waste and fraud. Independent monitors — who work for federal agencies but are not overseen by the head of those agencies — are designed to protect against mismanagement and abuse of power.
Although appointed by the president, they are expected to be non-partisan.
The firings could violate a law that requires the White House to notify Congress 30 days and provide case-by-case information before firing a federal inspector general.
Hannibal Ware, the Small Business Administration’s inspector general and head of the agency’s watchdog board, sent a letter to Sergio Gore, the White House chief of staff, suggesting the layoffs were invalid.
“I encourage you to contact the White House about how you plan to proceed,” Ware wrote. “At this time, we do not believe that the actions taken are legally sufficient to fire the presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed inspectors general.”
In a separate statement released Saturday afternoon, Ware wrote that the firings, which were “not consistent with the law,” were a serious threat to the independence of inspectors general.
“IGs (inspectors general) are not immune from removal,” he wrote. “However, the law must be enforced to protect independent government oversight in America.”
Democrats were quick to criticize the president for the move.
Schumer said the move was a “revelation of the lawless approach” by Trump and his administration.
Jerry Connolly, Democrat of Virginia and the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called the firings a “Friday night coup” and “an attack on transparency and accountability.”
He and 20 other Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter directly to President Trump expressing “grave concern” about the firings and calling for a review.
“Your actions violate the law, attack our democracy and undermine the safety of the American people,” wrote representatives of the group, which included Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Zoe Lofgren of California and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also expressed concern about the purge.
“I don’t understand why people whose mission is to stamp out waste, fraud and abuse should be fired,” Collins said at the Capitol on Saturday. – I don’t understand that.
