Trump violates law in after-hours firing of 17 independent inspectors general

Trump sleeping during a religious service (Photo: YouTube)

Late on Friday, January 24, convicted felon and President Donald Trump fired 17 Inspectors General of federal agencies.

Inspectors General are independent government watchdogs who investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse inside government agencies.

Trump’s action was done in a way that violated 5 U.S. Code Chapter 4, §415 (e)(2) of the Inspector Generals Act of 1978, which says he must give both houses of Congress 30 days notice of the removal:

(2) Inspector general removed or transferred.If an Inspector General is removed from office or is transferred to another position or location within a designated Federal entity, the head of the designated Federal entity shall communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer. 

In legal terms, the word “shall” indicates an absolute obligation. It clearly imposes a specific duty upon a person. Trump also violated another part of the same law that requires the President first supply “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons for the change” to both houses of Congress:

(B) If the President places an Inspector General on non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses of Congress (including to the appropriate congressional committees) not later than 15 days before the date on which the change in status takes effect…” 

Trump defended his move by lying to the public. He said that a mass removal of inspectors general was “a very standard thing to do.”

It is not.

In an attestation to their independence, most inspectors general have served across multiple administrations of either party.

In a letter to the White House Director of Presidential Personnel on January 24, (pdf) the Chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency wrote,

“…we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General. Specifically, based upon the 2022 amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978, the President must notify Congress 30 days prior to removal of an I.G. and provide ‘substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons’ for such removal. 5 U.S.C. § 403(b), as amended by the section 5202(a) of the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 (Title LII, Subtitle A, of P.L. 117-263, 136 Stat. 2395, 3222). The requirement to provide the substantive rationale, including detailed and case specific reasons, was added to better enable Congress to engage on and respond to a proposed removal of an Inspector General in order to protect the independence ofInspectors General.

Trump continues to violate U.S. laws with impunity, forcing American citizens to incur legal expense to challenge his actions and try to protect democracy and the rule of law.

Republicans used to believe the rule of law was worthy of respect, but that’s clearly not the case any more.

Commentary on social media about Trump’s after hours firing of 17 IGs

  7 comments for “Trump violates law in after-hours firing of 17 independent inspectors general

  1. Ooops…Hur was not an IG…he was a special counsel.
    Not that any of you geniuses know the difference.
    🙂

  2. Back in the days when I had trust in the US Federal government, I waited patiently to learn what the IG determination was on a given case.

    It usually took well over a year from the ensuing incident and often the report was scathing…such as the report on the Mueller investigation, the report about James Comey, the report about Russia-gate…but the only report that was at all timely was the Hur report which disclosed that Joe Biden was senile…what a discovery!

    What has been done with the results of all these inspector general reports?

    ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

    The whole thing is theatre. If Trump needs to go along with the 30 day rule…so be it. After that… cut their budgets and give them a small office with no windows and minimal staff.

    • I strongly disagree. As someone who spent the entirety of my adult life in Federal service, I’ve seen a number of IG actions and reports that have led to real consequences. The failures you’ve mentioned have been the result of a gutless Congress, not a failure of the IG community. If not for an IG report, we might never have known of the “perfect” phone call with President Zelensky. Congress failed to act, but the IG system worked.

      • So nice to hear from someone who knows!

        Maybe you can cite an IG report that made a difference…or maybe a book I should read.
        I agree about congress.
        It seems to me that aside from kicking the fiscal can down the road, all they do is launch investigations…and nothing comes of them.

        PS. I didn’t think the Zelensky phone call was uncovered by the IG. I thought it was Schiff’s whistleblower ie: Vindman. Who was the IG?

  3. He thinks he’s a dictator, and it doesn’t help that his followers think he should be. Luckily, there are smarter, more honorable people around to push back.
    I’m sure one of Trump’s slavering, slack-jawed, glassy-eyed “empathy is a sin” followers will be around shortly to tell us how it’s a brilliant strategy on Trump’s part; you know, to “start a conversation”.

  4. A criminal president is taking multiple illegal actions, including summarily removing inspectors general and freezing appropriated funds, in violation of federal statutes. When is the U.S. Congress, and in particular the Senate, going to stop being his doormat?

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