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Two top Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called on President Trump to explain his decision to fire 17 inspector generals across multiple federal agencies.

Some shit you should know before you read: In a late-night move last week, President Donald Trump fired 17 federal inspector generals, including Robert Storch, the Defense Department’s internal watchdog, who had been in the role since December 2022. Storch’s tenure involved high-profile investigations, such as former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s undisclosed hospitalization, the Pentagon’s management of food aid deliveries to Gaza, and the risks associated with US weapons systems sent to Ukraine. His dismissal, along with other IGs overseeing agencies like Agriculture, Education, Labor, and State, sparked widespread criticism, mainly because no detailed justification was provided for the firings, as required by federal law.

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What’s going on now: In a letter to President Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) expressed concern over the abrupt dismissal of 17 inspector generals, arguing that the president failed to comply with legal requirements. The senators criticized the lack of the mandated 30-day notice to Congress and specific explanations for the firings. They wrote, “Congress was not provided the legally required 30-day notice and case-specific reasons for removal, as required by law. Accordingly, we request that you provide that information immediately.”

Grassley and Durbin also stressed that inspector generals are vital in ensuring government accountability. They wrote, “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.”

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Both lawmakers also requested that President Trump provide Congress with “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for why each inspector general was removed. They also asked Trump to provide the names of those he plans to replace them with, noting that they would need to be “qualified and non-partisan individuals.”

This all comes as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the move, arguing that President Trump has the authority to fire executive branch officials, including inspector generals, at his discretion. She said, “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.”

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