Trump fires watchdogs, paves way for ‘corruption’ Warren says
On Tuesday, his first full day in power, Trump announced plans to weed out around 1,000 opponents from the US government
President Donald Trump sacked at least a dozen internal government watchdogs late on Friday, US media reported, the latest shake-up of the Republican’s second term after less than a week back in office.
Independent inspectors general of at least 12 federal agencies were notified of their immediate dismissals via emails from the White House personnel director, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the actions.
Inspectors general have 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.
“It’s a widespread massacre,” one of the fired inspectors general said. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”
