Former Federal agency inspectors general (IGs) who were fired by President Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit to get their jobs back, claiming that the Trump administration violated Federal law in getting rid of them.
The lawsuit – filed on Feb. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia – includes as plaintiffs the former IGs for the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Agriculture, Education, and Labor, as well as the Small Business Administration.
The eight IGs were part of over a dozen IGs who President Trump fired on Jan. 24. However, the plaintiffs argue that President Trump violated a law that requires the president to give Congress a 30-day notice before removing an inspector general. Under the law, the president must also give substantive rationale for the termination, including case-specific reasons.
“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 complaint says.
“Plaintiffs bring this action seeking a declaration that their purported removals were legal nullities, and so they remain the duly appointed IGs of their respective agencies, unless and until the president lawfully removes them in compliance with the [law],” it adds.
In remarks to the White House press pool on Jan. 25, President Trump claimed that the firings were “a very common thing to do.”
“I don’t know them, but some people thought that some were unfair or some were not doing the job,” President Trump said of the fired IGs, adding, “It’s a very standard thing to do, very much like the U.S. attorneys.” He promised that their replacements “will be very good.”
The inspectors general argued in their lawsuit that the president’s claims are false, pointing out that “in every transition to a new administration beginning in 1989, presidents of both major political parties – including President Trump during his first term – uniformly refrained from removing IGs upon taking office.”
“IGs must be watchdogs, not lapdogs. The deleterious consequences of the Trump administration’s contrary approach are hard to overstate,” the complaint says.
The president’s firings caused numerous lawmakers to express their concerns – both in the House and Senate.
Additionally, one of the removed IGs, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, issued a statement defending the nonpartisan work of agency IGs.
“IGs are not immune from removal,” Ware said. “However, the law must be followed to protect independent government oversight for America.”
