WASHINGTON — The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to President Donald Trump requesting more information on his sudden firing of more than a dozen inspectors general.

What You Need To Know

  • In a letter addressed to the president and dated Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., note that the Trump administration did not provide Congress with a 30-day notice and case-by-case explanation “as required by law,” when it abruptly ousted 18 inspectors general – according to the senators – last Friday night
  • In return, the pair are asking the president to provide them with written documents containing a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for why each one was removed
  • The bipartisan duo also requested that Trump move swiftly to replace those fired with “qualified and non-partisan individuals” and provide them with the names of the people who will serve in an acting capacity in the roles in the meantime
  • Trump’s removals of the watchdog figures — who are expected to be nonpartisan and commissioned with keeping a check on fraud, abuse and mismanagement inside federal government agencies — sparked outrage among Democrats over the weekend while Republicans largely lined up behind the decision 

In a letter addressed to the president and dated Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., note that the Trump administration did not provide Congress with a 30-day notice and case-by-case explanation “as required by law,” when it abruptly ousted 18 inspectors general — according to the senators — last Friday night, four days into Trump's presidency.

In return, the pair are asking the president to provide them with written documents containing a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for why each one was removed. 

“While IGs aren’t immune from committing acts requiring their removal, and they can be removed by the president, the law must be followed,” the senators wrote. “The communication to Congress must contain more than just broad and vague statements, rather it must include sufficient facts and details to assure Congress and the public that the termination is due to real concerns about the Inspector General’s ability to carry out their mission.”

The bipartisan duo also requested that Trump move swiftly to replace those fired with “qualified and non-partisan individuals” and provide them with the names of the people who will serve in an acting capacity in the roles in the meantime. 

Trump’s removals of the watchdog figures — who are expected to be nonpartisan and commissioned with keeping a check on fraud, abuse and mismanagement inside federal agencies — sparked outrage among Democrats over the weekend, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referring to it as a “chilling purge.” 

Many in the party argued the move was illegal, citing the 30-day-notice rule. Republicans largely lined up behind it, with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina brushing off concerns over the decision in an interview with NBC News, despite noting that it “technically” broke the law. 

In the letter, the top Judiciary Committee members noted the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act contains language requiring a president to provide Congress with a 30-day written notice and case-by-case explanation for removing or transferring inspectors general. The pair also said the amendment included in the NDAA that made such rules into law was authored by Grassley himself.

The Iowa Republican, who was also sworn in as president pro tempore after the GOP won control of the upper chamber this November, has long been known as a leading voice for such federal watchdog roles and whistleblower issues, helping launch a caucus to support inspectors general and introducing legislation to protect from “partisan political activity” around the roles. 

“This is a matter of public and congressional accountability and ensuring the public’s confidence in the Inspector General community, a sentiment shared more broadly by other Members of Congress,” Grassley and Durbin wrote in the letter to Trump. “IGs are critical to rooting out waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct within the Executive Branch bureaucracy, which you have publicly made clear you are also intent on doing.”