Trump fires inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies

(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 inspector general’s 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.

Trump said Saturday night that “I did it because it’s a very common thing to do,” telling reporters aboard Air Force One that “not all of them” were removed. He added, without providing evidence, “I don’t know them, but some people thought that some were unfair or were not doing the job. It’s a very standard thing to do.”

According to a report from the Congressional Research Service, “practice has disfavored removal of IGs during presidential transitions” after President Ronald Reagan removed all inspectors general in a controversial move following his 1981 inauguration.

“Since 1981, IGs have remained in their positions during each presidential transition,” the report states.

The Washington Post was first to report on the Trump administration’s firings.

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.

Republican senators, including Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, said they were not given any heads-up or explanation for the White House’s decision.

“I haven’t, so I better reserve comment. I’m sure I will,” Thune told CNN.

Other GOP senators expressed concern about the fact that they had not received notice and about the widespread nature of the firings.

“What I do understand is that it is relatively unprecedented in that there was no notice,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said, adding, “I can understand why a new president coming in would want to look critically at the IGs and the role that they have played within the various agencies, but … the summary dismissal of everybody, I think, has raised concerns.”

Pressed on whether she wanted the White House to provide more information, Murkowski said she would trust Grassley to “help lead them through this.”

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired,” Grassley said Saturday in a statement provided by his office. “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.”

Sen. Susan Collins also expressed concern with the firings, arguing that the act of dismissing inspectors general did not match Trump’s stated goal of ending corruption.

“I don’t understand why one would fire individuals whose mission is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. So this leaves a gap in what I know is a priority for President Trump,” the Maine Republican told reporters.

Sen. Mike Rounds said the president should have an opportunity to explain his decision. “I honestly would just be guessing at this point as to what it what it actually entails. So I’ll wait and find out what that means in terms of other people stepping in. Are there deputies that step in? Was it specific to individuals? I just simply don’t have that information,” he said.

“I just heard about it just briefly this morning. I’m sure that there’ll be a discussion of it here, but I do not know what his logic was on it, and I do not know the reasoning. We’ll give him an opportunity to explain that,” the South Dakota Republican added.

Democrats slammed the dismissals, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the move “a chilling purge” and warning the firings could kick off “a golden age for abuse in government, and even corruption.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Evan Perez, Shania Shelton and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

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