By Nandita Bose, Ismail Shakil
Washington (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s overnight firing of inspectors at several government agencies was described on Saturday by Democrats and others as illegal, drawing concerns from at least one Republican.
In what critics called a late-night purge, Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs on Friday, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that clears the way for independent watchdogs to be replaced by loyalists.
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a longtime Democratic antagonist of Trump, said the lawsuit was a clear violation of the law.
“Trump doesn’t want accountability for wrongdoing in office,” Schiff said in a post on Platform X. “He’s filling up the swamp.”
Inspectors general at agencies including the government departments, defense and transportation were informed via email from the White House personnel director that they were being terminated immediately, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The layoffs, handed out less than a week after Trump took office for his second term, appeared to violate federal law, the independent Council of Inspectors General said in a letter to the White House on Friday.
The law requires a president to provide Congress with “substantial justification, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the firings 30 days in advance, the council said in the letter to Sergio Gor, White House personnel director.
GOR’s email to the fired inspectors on Friday cited “changing priorities” as the reason for the shooting, according to the letter reported by Politico.
“At this point, we do not believe that the measures taken are legally sufficient to reject the President’s appointment of the President’s Inspector General,” said Council Chairman Hannibal Ware, suggesting GOR consult White House counsel .
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, said the shooting was “clearly illegal.”
An inspector general is an independent position that conducts audits and investigations into allegations of defection, fraud and abuse of power.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, a longtime supporter of the inspector general, said he wanted to know why Trump fired the watchdogs.
“There may be good reasons why the IGs were fired. We need to know if so. I want a further explanation from President Trump,” Grassley said in a statement, adding that a detailed 30-day notice was not available Distance was provided by Congress.
Fellow Republican John Barrasso said he believes Trump will make smart decisions about the inspector general. “Some of them deserve to be fired,” he told Fox News.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the shootings “a frightening purge” and a preview of a “lawless approach” by the Trump administration.
The agencies are pushing orders from Trump, who returned to the presidency on Jan. 20, to reshape the federal bureaucracy, scrap diversity programs, rescind job openings and sideline more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials.
Friday’s firings were spared by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, according to the New York Times (NYSE :). The Washington Post, which first reported the layoffs, said most were from Trump’s first term, 2017-2021.
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 over a two-month period in 2020. These included the State Department’s inspector general, who played a role in the president’s impeachment process.
Last year, Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, fired the US Railroad Retirement Board’s inspector general after an investigation found the official created a hostile work environment.
In 2022, Congress strengthened protections for inspectors general, making it harder to replace them with hand-picked officials and requiring additional explanations from a president for their removal.
