President Donald Trump fired at least 12 general inspectors in the federal government on Friday, confirmed a senior White House official to NBC News.
The measure did not affect the general inspectors of the Department of Justice or the Department of National Security.
When asked why the General Inspectors were fired, the official said that the measure was an effort of the president to put aside parts of the Past Biden Administration that do not “align” with the new Trump administration.
“We are cleaning the house of what does not work for us and in the future,” said the official.
The legal justification for the shots is cloudy, since Congress strengthened the protections for the General Inspectors of undue terminations when it modified the General Law of the Inspector in 2022.
The law requires a 30 -day notification window between the White House that informs the Congress about its intention to fire an inspector general and that the Inspector General is eliminated from the State in service. The White House must also provide substantive reasons why the Inspector General is being eliminated.
When asked if the White House was concerned about the legality of the shots, given the required 30 -day Congress notice for each inspector general, the official said that many of these decisions occur with the “legal advisor that reviews them.” The official added that they were reviewing with the White House lawyer’s office, but did not believe that the administration had violated any law.
The shots were first reported by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
General inspectors are generally considered independent figures within government agencies. They have the task of performing objective audits within their agency and is expected to investigate the accusations of waste, fraud and abuse of power within their departments.
In response to the shots, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, the head of the Council of the General Inspectors on Integrity and Efficiency, sent a letter to his colleagues from General Inspectors who asked them to be told if they were completed and informing them that their advice “” is coordinating an answer to the White House and wants to account for all the pastures that have received a notification. “
NBC News confirmed that Ware also sent a letter on the name of Cigie to the White House and legislators in Capitol Hill about the shots.
In the letter, Ware addressed the legality of the shots, writing: “At this point, we do not believe that the actions taken are legally sufficient to fire the general inspectors designated by the Senate presidentially.”
Separately, Ware issued a statement arguing that “the eliminations inconsistent with the law are a significant threat to the real and perceived independence of IGS.”
“IGs are not immune to elimination,” he added. “However, the law must be followed to protect the supervision of the independent government for the United States.”
Ware was among the general inspectors to whom Trump shot on Friday. The Department of Education confirmed to NBC News that the inspector general of his department was also among those dismissed on Friday.
Mark Lee Greenblatt, who was fired from his position as the Inspector General of the Department of Interior, said in an interview with NBC News that “the biggest concern that I just followed is the politicization of the general positions of the inspector.”
“The key question here is, who designates the president at the place of the IG that he has eliminated?” He asked, referring to the General Inspectors. “We are the so -called clock dogs within the federal agency. So, do you name the true watch dogs or name Laps dogs?”
Greenblatt, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, also questioned whether the general inspectors would be willing to investigate the accusations against Trump’s allies.
“If a member of the Trump administration is accused of ethics, misconduct or some kind of criminal violation, will you be willing to investigate that in a complete and complete way? Will they be willing to reach findings, negative findings, about that, about that. Trump Political designated? ” “That is the key question. That’s where rubber meets the road.”
Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, president of the Senate Judicial Committee, also noted that Trump’s decision did not comply with the shooting process established in federal legislation. The senator led the impulse to protect the General Inspectors in the 2022 update to the Federal Law.
“There may be good reasons why IG. We need to know that if so. I would like an additional explanation of President Trump. In any case, the detailed notice of 30 days of removal that the laws of the law were not provided to Congress, ”Grassley told NBC News in a statement.
Trump’s movement too Drew Swift Condenation of Democrats Friday night and early Saturday.
In a speech on the floor of the Senate on Saturday morning, Schumer described The Firings as a “chilling purge”, saying: “Yesterday, in the dark of the night, President Trump shot at least 12 general inspectors in independent inspectors in Important federal agencies of the entire administration.
Schumer added: “These layoffs are possibly violation of the federal law, which requires that Congress have 30 days of warning of any intention of general fires.”
Danielle Brian, executive director of the project not for profit and non -partisan on the government’s supervision, also expressed concerns about the legality of Trump’s layoffs and desire to get rid of “controls and balances.”
“It is clear that this movement shows that this White House is really interested in eliminating controls and balances, and this was its only tool on the elimination of waste and fraud and shot in the foot,” Brian told NBC News .
“I am not yet convinced that they get out of his,” he added.
In a publication about X, Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Also called the firings a “purge” and added: “President Trump is dismantling the controls of his power and racing the way for generalized corruption.”
In a statement, representative Gerry Connolly, D-VA., The main democrat in the Supervision Committee of the House of Representatives, also criticized Trump’s decision, describing it as a “Friday night at night” and “an attack on Transparency and responsibility. “
