Inspectors general sue Trump admin over their firings
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President Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office on Feb. 10. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Eight of the federal agency watchdogs abruptly fired by President Trump last month filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging their terminations.
Why it matters: The group of inspectors general argue that their firings violated federal law and that they should be reinstated to their posts.
- The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., joins a tsunami of other legal challenges that hope to stop Trump's bid to radically reshape the federal government.
- Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general just days into his second term.
Driving the news: The lawsuit was brought by the former inspectors general of the Departments of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and Agriculture, as well as the Small Business Administration.
- The plaintiffs argued that their terminations violated federal statutes meant to protect them from interference in carrying out their "critical, non-partisan oversight duties."
- This includes a 2022 law stipulating that the president must notify Congress at least 30 days before firing an inspector general and provide "substantive, case-specific rationale" for the decision.
The big picture: Calling their firings "unlawful and unjustified," the lawsuit noted that the Trump administration revoked the inspectors general's access to their government-issued phones, email accounts and computer systems, and even "physically disabled" them from entering the buildings where they worked.
- The lawsuit calls on the court to declare their firings "legally ineffective" and allow them to remain the inspectors general of their respective agency "unless and until" Trump removes them in a way that complies with federal law.
Between the lines: Inspectors general are tasked with identifying fraud, waste and corruption and are intended to be "non-partisan officials."
- The lawsuit disavowed Trump's claim that such firings are "common," instead noting that "since 1980, there has been a bipartisan consensus that it is improper for a new presidential administration to remove IGs en masse."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information throughout.
