Written by Nandita Bose and Ismail Shakeel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats and others criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s late-night decision to fire inspectors general at several government agencies as illegal and alarmed at least one Republican colleague.
In what critics described as a late-night purge, Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs on Friday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, a move that paves the way for the independent watchdogs to be replaced by loyalists.
US Senator Adam Schiff, a longtime Democratic opponent of Trump, said the measure represented a clear violation of the law.
“Trump does not want accountability for wrongdoing in office,” Schiff said in a post on Platform X. “He is refilling the swamp.”
Inspectors general at agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense and Transportation, were notified via emails from the White House personnel director that their employment had been terminated effective immediately, the source told Reuters, on condition of anonymity.
The independent Board of Inspectors General on Integrity and Competence said in a letter to the White House on Friday that the firings, issued less than a week after Trump took office for his second term, appeared to violate federal law.
The law requires the president to provide Congress with “an objective rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for firing staff 30 days in advance, the council said in the letter to Sergio Gore, the White House personnel director.
Gore’s email to the fired inspectors on Friday cited “changed priorities” as the reason for the dismissal, Politico reported.
“At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to remove the president-appointed and Senate-confirmed inspectors general,” Speaker Hannibal Ware said, suggesting that Gore should consult with White House counsel.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, said the dismissals were “clearly illegal.”
The Inspector General is an independent position that conducts audits and investigates allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse of authority.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, a longtime supporter of inspectors general, said he wanted to know why Trump fired the inspectors general.
“There may be good reason to fire the government inspectors. We need to know if that is the case. I would like further clarification from President Trump,” Grassley said in a statement, adding that a detailed 30-day notice of dismissal had not been provided to Congress.
Fellow Republican Senator John Barrasso said he believes Trump will make wise decisions about inspectors general. “Some of them deserve to be fired,” he told Fox News.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the impeachments a “horrific purge” and a preview of a “lawless approach” by the Trump administration.
The agencies are moving ahead with orders from Trump, who returned to the presidency on January 20, to reshape the federal bureaucracy by eliminating diversity programs, canceling job offers and sidelining more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials.
Friday’s firings saved Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, according to the newspaper New York Times (New York Stock Exchange:). The Washington Post, which was the first to report news of the dismissal, said that most of them were appointed during Trump’s first term from 2017-2021.
A source familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that among the inspectors general fired by Trump was John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. He was fired on Friday evening even though his operation is scheduled to end in September, the source said.
Many politically appointed agency and department leaders come and go with each administration, but an inspector general can serve under multiple presidents.
During his first term, Trump fired five inspectors general in a two-month period in 2020. Among them was the State Department’s inspector general, who played a role in the president’s impeachment proceedings.
Last year, Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, fired the inspector general of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, after an investigation found that the official created a hostile work environment.
In 2022, Congress strengthened protections for inspectors general, making it harder to replace them with carefully selected officials and requiring additional clarification from the president to remove them.
