US President Donald Trump has fired 17 independent watchdogs at multiple government agencies, a person with knowledge of the matter said, eliminating a critical oversight component and clearing the way to replace them with loyalists.The inspectors-general at agencies, including the departments of State, Defence and Transportation, were notified by e-mail from the White House personnel director that they had been terminated immediately, the source said on condition of anonymity.The dismissals appeared to violate federal law, which requires the president to give both houses of Congress reasons for the dismissals 30 days in advance.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, noting a possible violation of law in remarks yesterday on the Senate floor, called the firings “a chilling purge” and a preview of what he said was a “lawless approach” by the Trump administration.“When government agencies disobey the law in the next year and there’s no independent (inspector-general) to keep them in check, Donald Trump could well regret this action,” Schumer said.An inspector-general (IG) is an independent position with an oversight role to detect and deter fraud, waste and abuse by government employees.They are responsible for investigating violations of laws, regulations and ethical standards by employees, and conducting audits of contracts, finances and staff performance.Among the federal agencies affected by the ousters were the departments of Defence, State, Interior and Energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and Social Security Administration, the Washington Post said.“It’s a widespread massacre,” said one of the fired inspectors-general, according to the Post. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, a long-time supporter of inspectors-general, said he wanted to know why Trump fired the watchdogs.“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump,” Grassley said in a statement, adding that a detailed 30-day notice of removal was not provided to Congress.The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Agencies are pressing ahead with orders from Trump, who returned to the presidency on Monday, to reshape the federal bureaucracy by scrapping diversity programmes, rescinding job offers and sidelining more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials.Yesterday’s dismissals spared the Department of Justice inspector-general, Michael Horowitz, according to the New York Times.The Washington Post, which was first to report the dismissals, said most were appointees from Trump’s 2017-2021 first term.Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, called Trump’s action a “purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night”, posting on X: “President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, an ally of the president, defended the decision on X, saying that “existing IGs are virtually worthless”.“They may bring a few minor things to light but accomplish next to nothing,” she wrote. “The whole system needs to be revamped! They are toothless and protect the institution instead of the citizens.”Many politically appointed leaders of agencies and departments 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.This included the State Department, whose inspector-general had played a role in the president’s impeachment proceedings.Last year, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden fired the inspector-general of the US Railroad Retirement Board, after an investigation found that the official had 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.On Tuesday, his first full day in power, Trump announced plans to weed out around 1,000 opponents from the US government.The 78-year-old Republican began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling government policies on immigration, citizenship, gender, diversity and climate – some of which are being challenged in the courts.
