Lawmakers are seeking clarity from the White House after the dismissal of 18 Inspectors General over the weekend, without congressional notification.
Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the judiciary committee, and Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member on it, sent a letter to President Trump Tuesday seeking clarity.
“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 letter states.
The Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 requires the president to “communicate in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.”
The senators request written communication with the reasoning for the IG’s removals and the names of those to serve in an acting capacity.
“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,” the senators write.
The move has prompted concerns within the IG community.
“This is an unprecedented move. Without the 30-day congressional notification required under law, there is confusion about the legal effects of terminations,” stated Diana Shaw, former Acting Inspector General for the State Department. “Regardless, the wholesale removal of so many IGs will have an enormous impact on the oversight community, which traditionally has been insulated from the leadership turnover that typically accompanies a change of administration.”
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Speaking to CNN, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said Tuesday the 30-day notice required by law was not constitutional.
"The law says 30 days," said CNN's Jake Tapper during the interview with Miller. "Do you think the law is unconstitutional?"
"Absolutely it is," Miller said. "I don't even think it is. I know it is."
The move comes as Trump has moved to quickly enact his priorities, including within the federal workforce.
The Justice Department fired more than a dozen employees that took part in prosecutions against Trump, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
The White House defended Trump’s authority for the moves.
“It is the belief of this White House and White House Counsel's Office that the President was within his executive authority to do that. He is the executive of the executive branch, and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during her first press briefing Tuesday, pointing to prior case law.
