President Donald Trump fired 17 independent supervisors at various federal agencies late Friday, a Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News, as he continues to reshape the government at lightning speed.
Trump fired inspectors general at agencies within the Department of Defense, State Department, Department of Energy, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Veterans Affairs and others, notifying them in an email from the White House Office of the President’s Staff, Washington first reported Post.
“It’s a widespread massacre,” one of the ousted inspector generals told the Post. “Whoever Trump puts in place now will be seen as loyalists, and that undermines the whole system.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trump’s action could violate a federal law that requires the president to notify Congress 30 days in advance of his intention to fire any independent watchdog, the Associated Press reported.
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President Donald Trump holds a letter from outgoing President Joe Biden as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
“There may be a good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know if there is,” Grassley said in a statement. “I would like further clarification from President Trump. Regardless, the 30-day detailed takedown notice required by law has not been provided to Congress.”
The The white house did not respond to a request for comment.
Inspectors general at federal agencies are called upon to investigate government waste, fraud and abuse. They act independently and can serve in several administrations.
The mass firings are Trump’s latest attempt to force the federal bureaucracy into submission after he shuttered diversity, equity and inclusion programs, rescinded job offers and furloughed more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials. Trump began his second term with the intention of ousting all opponents of his agenda from government and replacing them with officials who would do his bidding without hesitation.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz testifies to Congress. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Among those spared Trump’s wrath was Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the New York Times reported. Horowitz led the investigation of The FBI’s Russian collusion investigationwhich exposed at least 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI’s request for a FISA warrant in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., strongly condemned Trump’s firings, calling them “a middle-of-the-night purge of independent watchdogs.”
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Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the president’s firing of more than a dozen inspectors general does not comply with federal law that requires him to notify Congress 30 days in advance. (ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“President Trump is removing the checks on his power and paving the way for rampant corruption,” Warren posted on X.
During his first term, Trump fired five inspectors general in less than two months in 2020. This included the State Department, whose inspector general played a role in the impeachment process.
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Last year, Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, fired the inspector general of the US Railroad Retirement Board, after an investigation found the official had created a hostile work environment.
In 2022, Congress passed reforms that strengthened inspector general protections and made it harder to replace them with political appointees, requiring the president to explain their removal.
Reuters contributed to this report.
