Congress by law is to receive 30 days notice and an explanation in each case, although the IGs likely would be removed anyway. Image: Phil Mistry/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA key Senate Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, has joined Democrats and good-government groups in questioning President Trump’s orders last Friday (January 24) to fire more than a dozen inspectors general, saying those actions did not comply with a law requiring notice to Congress.
“While IGs aren’t immune from acts requiring their removal, and they can be removed by the president, the law must be followed,” Grassley, a longtime advocate of whistleblower protections and IG independence, wrote to the White House. Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and sent the letter jointly with the ranking Democrat, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois.
That 2022 law, enacted in response to Trump’s firing of several IGs during his first administration, requires a 30-day notice to Congress with a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for such firing an IG. The White House however has cited only “changing priorities” in firing the IGs of most Cabinet departments—including several who Trump had nominated in his first term—and of several larger independent agencies.
“The communication to Congress must contain more than just broad and vague statements, rather it must include sufficient facts and details to assure Congress and the public that the termination is due to real concerns about the inspector general’s ability to carry out their mission,” the letter said.
The central council of agency IGs similarly has said that “The requirement to provide the substantive rationale, including detailed and case specific reasons, was added to better enable Congress to engage on and respond to a proposed removal of an IG to protect the independence of IGs. IGs are not immune from removal. However, the law must be followed to protect independent government oversight for America.”
Similar statements came from the Partnership for Public Service, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, the Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee, and others.
The letter from Grassley and Durbin asked for information meeting the law’s standards regarding each IG, information about those who will serve in an acting capacity, and for the nomination of “qualified and non-partisan individuals” as replacements.
Further steps are uncertain, since the law previously has not been tested in this way.
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