President Fires Inspectors General In Middle of Night

In an action not reported on the White House website, President Trump fired 18 inspectors general in the middle of the night, FOX News reported. The watchdogs for the Defense Department, State Department, Energy Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department of Veterans Affairs and more, were released without notice and without explanation. 

Inspectors general for the various departments are in charge of auditing, to assure funds are not stolen, squandered or illegally re-allocated. They look for fraud at every level, as well as misconduct and abuse of power within their assigned departments.

According to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, this move may have broken the law. Republicans in Congress responded with a proverbial shrug. Grassley assumed there must be a good reason that Trump broke the law. 

Incidentally, in 2021, Grassley sponsored an act in the Senate, requiring that the President give 30 day notice of intent to remove an Inspector General. The cosponsors for this act were a majority Republican. The stated purpose for the act was to place limits on the President (Biden, at the time) to prevent presidential corruption. The House of Representatives passed a substantially similar rule into law in 2022. Therefore, President Trump did break the law, and Grassley knew it.

Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator, sponsored a law requiring the president to give 30-day notice prior to firing an inspector general. When Trump gave zero notice and fired 18 inspectors general in the middle of the night, Grassley hum-hawed and shrugged like a good ol' Midwestern boy whose abusive, drunk daddy just burned down the neighbor's barn.

When asked about the move by a reporter, a White House official simply said they didn't think they broke any laws, according to FOX News.

In other news from late last night, the Senate voted to install Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth is a FOX News host, veteran, and alleged alcoholic and domestic abuser. Hegseth has denied the allegations, but promises not to drink any alcohol during his tenure at the Pentagon. Hegseth was installed only when Vice President JD Vance broke a tie in the Senate.