Eight inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit against his administration, demanding to be reinstated.
At least 17 inspectors general have been fired.
The plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit that their firings violate federal laws. One of the laws requires a president to give Congress a 30-day notice before removing the inspector general.
“In this action, the duly appointed Inspectors General of eight major U.S. agencies— the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Agriculture, Education, and Labor, and the Small Business Administration—seek redress for their unlawful and unjustified purported termination by President Donald Trump and their respective agency heads,” the lawsuit says. “The purported firings violated unambiguous federal statutes—each enacted by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed into law by the President—to protect Inspectors General from precisely this sort of interference with the discharge of their critical, non-partisan oversight duties.”
According to the filing, the agencies “saw to it that their IGs lost access to their government email accounts and computer systems, government-issued phones, Personal Identity Verification cards, and computers. The IGs were also physically disabled from entering the government buildings where they are assigned to work. These actions have had their intended effect of making it impossible for the IGs to perform their lawful duties. Because the purported removals were illegal and hence a nullity, the actions just described constituted illegal interference with the IGs’ official duties.”
“President Trump’s attempt to eliminate a crucial and longstanding source of impartial, non-partisan oversight of his administration is contrary to the rule of law,” the lawsuit states.
American Faith reported that former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General Phyllis Fong was escorted from her office on Monday after refusing to comply with her termination.
Security officials allegedly removed her from the premises after she did not comply with her firing. However, the USDA disputes this account, stating that Fong left voluntarily, accompanied by two friends.
