Ossoff Checks Trump on Inspectors General Firings

Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) sent a letter to President Donald Trump (R) regarding the firing of 17 Inspectors General during the first days of his presidency. As other Democrats have pointed out, President Trump did not give Congress the 30-day notice or cause for relieving the Inspectors Generals across the 17 different agencies.

This has led Sen. Ossoff to worry about possible corruption and lack of transparency. He begins his letter by explaining the work inspectors general do for United States taxpayers.

"The work of Inspectors General is critical to ensuring effectiveness and efficiency across the federal government and to preventing and detecting fraud and abuse where it occurs," said Sen. Ossoff. "That work leads to tremendous cost savings—according to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in fiscal year 2023, federal Offices of Inspectors General saved taxpayers over $93 billion."

He added, "In addition to rooting out fiscal waste, Inspectors General ensure the government is both accountable and transparent by combatting abuse of power and corruption."

Furthermore, Ossoff referenced the laws that require President Trump to give notice for these firings, the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 and the 2022 Securing Inspector General Independence Act, which requires “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons" and that the first assistant will immediately step in as the Acting Inspector General should the former get fired.

The Georgia senator finished the letter by asking Trump to reverse his decision to fire the Inspectors General.

"Despite these requirements, Congress did not receive proper advance notice and a substantive, case-specific rationale for the recent Inspectors General terminations. The lack of notice and explanation has raised reasonable questions among Members of Congress and the public about the bases [sic] for these removals. It is for these reasons I ask you to rescind these terminations and provide the complete 30-day notice to Congress on each of these firings, as the law requires," concluded Sen. Ossoff.