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Trump's dismissal of inspectors general raises concerns over accountability

A former inspector general community official confirmed the firings to Scripps News.
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President Donald Trump fired at least 10-12 inspectors general late Friday and did not follow the 30-day congressional notification that requires providing a specific rationale or case-specific reason, according to a former inspector general community official.

Some of the firings involved the State Department, according to the source. A White House official also confirmed that there were several inspectors general dismissed.

The Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 requires the president to “communicate in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed his concern about the firings.

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “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,” said Grassley, R-Iowa.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, was more direct in her criticism.

“It’s a purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night,” she said. “Inspectors general are charged with rooting out government waste, fraud, abuse, and preventing misconduct. President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”

Inspectors general are tasked with conducting independent and objective audits and investigations of government agencies. It is also tasked with preventing and detecting fraud and abuse within government.

Seventy-four government agencies have an inspector general, about half of whom are subject to Senate confirmation, and approximately half are appointed by the agency head.

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There is precedent for the mass removal of inspectors general prior to the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan removed all 15 inspectors general within the executive branch, prompting bipartisan concern.

Since the passage of the 2008 law, there have been four instances of a president removing an inspector general. The most recent came in 2024 when President Joe Biden notified Congress of his intent to remove the inspector general of the Railroad Retirement Board, Martin Dickman.

There have also been three instances since 2008 of presidents replacing an inspector general with another Senate-appointed IG.