BREAKING: President Trump FIRES a dozen independent Inspector Generals overnight

President Trump just fired at least a dozen inspector generals across the administration last night in a continued purge of the deep state.

Politico writes that these IGs are from the “departments of State, Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Labor and Defense, as well as the Small Business Administration.”

Here’s more:

President Donald Trump fired multiple independent federal watchdogs, known as inspectors general, in a Friday night purge, removing a significant layer of accountability as he asserts his control over the federal government in his second term, according to two people with knowledge of the dismissals, granted anonymity to share details they were not authorized to speak about publicly.

One of the two people briefed on the dismissals said the number is at least a dozen and includes inspectors general at the departments of State, Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Labor and Defense, as well as the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Energy Corp., and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Together, those agencies make up large swaths of the federal government, with control over billions of dollars in taxpayer money and broad global reach.

The inspectors general at the Department of Justice, Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Communications Commission, the Export-Import Bank and the Department of Homeland Security remain in place, according to the person.

The inspectors general were dismissed via emails from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, with no notice sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have pledged bipartisan support for the watchdogs, in advance of the firings, the person said. The emails gave no substantive explanation for the dismissals, with at least one citing “changing priorities” for the move, the person added.

A senior White House official confirmed to POLITICO that “some” inspectors general had been fired.

There is some question about whether Trump can do this without notifying Congress 30-days beforehand:

Hannibal Ware, the inspector general of the Small Business Administration and leader of a council that represents inspectors general across government, suggested that the removals may be invalid because they appear to violate federal law requiring a 30-day notification to Congress before any watchdogs can be removed.

“I recommend that you reach out to White House Counsel to discuss your intended course of action,” Ware wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO to Sergio Gor, the director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. “At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.”

Diana Shaw, a former acting inspector general at the State Department, said the dismissals were “the travesty we feared may be coming.”

“If legal, and I think that’s an open question under the law requiring 30-day congressional notification prior to the firing of an IG, it risks changing forever what we have historically valued most about IGs — their independence, objectivity, and non-partisanship,” Shaw said. “Without it, the function would be gutted of its greatest value and the entire system will suffer.”

Whether or not this legal requirement stands remains to be seen. But just like Chuck Grassley, who suggested in November that Trump shouldn’t do this, I’m sure there was a good reason for these ousters.

Grassley told POLITICO in November that Trump shouldn’t pursue a broad ouster of inspectors general.

“I guess it’s the case of whether he believes in congressional oversight, because I work closely with all the inspector generals and I think I’ve got a good reputation for defending them. And I intend to defend them,” he said.

He struck a more measured tune Saturday morning, saying in a statement that there “may be a good reason the IGs were fired” and that he would like “further explanation” from Trump about the dismissals. But, he added, Congress was still not given the 30-day notice required by law.

I’m sure a lawsuit against this is already in the works and we’ll see where it goes.

https://therightscoop.com/breaking-president-trump-fires-a-dozen-independent-inspector-generals-overnight/