POGO: Inspectors general under fire again

May 23, 2020

Over the past week, President Donald Trump replaced another two inspectors general without justification. He fired the inspector general for the State Department in what appears to be retaliation for the IG’s investigations into the administration’s emergency declaration used to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, as well as Secretary Pompeo’s alleged misuse of Diplomatic Security to run personal errands. Trump also replaced the acting Transportation Department inspector general, who was investigating the transportation secretary for possible favoritism towards projects in Kentucky, the home state of her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell.   Since early April, Trump has removed two Senate-confirmed inspectors general and replaced two acting inspectors general. It seems he’s been emboldened to go after anyone who might uncover wrongdoing in his administration. To add insult to injury, Trump replaced the most recently ousted IGs with political appointees from within the departments they will now oversee. And they will both apparently remain in their original roles at their respective departments, creating a flagrant conflict of interest.   We feel strongly that we cannot sit idly by while the president attempts to undo our nation’s system of checks and balances. We published two op-eds this week calling on Congress to act. In the Washington Post, Executive Director Danielle Brian called on Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the president from firing an inspector general without a legitimate reason. In Responsible Statecraft, Center for Defense Information Director Mandy Smithberger and Public Policy Director Liz Hempowicz called on Congress to continue the investigations the State Department was unable to complete and to strengthen its own oversight powers. INVESTIGATION 52 Infected After Navy Fails to Prevent Virus Spread on Ship

Late last month, barely a week after the Navy’s Military Sealift Command assured the public that the coronavirus was not spreading among civilian mariners, the virus ripped through the USNS Leroy Grumman, leaving nearly half the crew and 30 contractors infected. Read More ANALYSIS Questions Regarding the Government’s COVID-19 Response POGO's timeline of the first 100 days of the administration's reponse to coronavirus raises some important questions. Read More EVENT COVID-19 and the Pentagon: The Road Ahead on Defense We're hosting a town hall this week to discuss how COVID-19 will likely impact the Pentagon's budget and other upcoming legislation. Save Your Spot OP-ED It’s past time for Congress to give inspectors general and whistleblowers additional protection President Donald Trump's recent attacks on inspectors general and whistleblowers have made abundantly clear that he feels emboldened to go after anyone who seeks to hold his administration accountable. Read More PODCAST Military Health Care Challenges with Dr. Robert Adams Retired Army doctor Robert Adams talks about the consequences of the efforts to outsource the military’s health system over the past decade, despite repeated warnings from medical professionals. Listen ICYMI COVID-19 and the Constitution: How to Protect Our Civil Liberties If you weren't able to watch our townhall on COVID-19 and the Constitution live, you can still check out the archived video. Watch QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Inspectors general are supposed to be independent of the agency ... but now you have a political appointee who is still a part of the State Department’s administration acting, as well, as an independent inspector general, which is just a flagrant conflict of interest.” Danielle Brian, Executive Director, on C-SPAN ONE LINERS “These people are being hired for who they know” Mandy Smithberger, Director of the Center for Defense Information at POGO, in the New York Times   “This is exactly how the inspector general system is not supposed to work. Congress created the system to separate oversight from politics in effort to bar cabinet secretaries from halting or interfering with investigations.” Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, in TIME   “They need an administration that values them and values the purposes of IG and independent oversight. ... It should take more than just sending a letter to Congress and saying ‘I don’t like this guy.’” Rebecca Jones, Policy Counsel, in the Wall Street Journal   “It’s not entirely their fault. ... But they shouldn’t be putting their hand out when they are doing stock buybacks and have lines of equity to tap before taking taxpayer money.” Sean Moulton, Senior Policy Analyst, in RealClearInvestigations   “It definitely troubles me when you see any sort of situation where a vendor is not just being treated by someone who has a product to sell, but as a collaborative partner they might lean on. ... The interest of a technology company is to their bottom line, it’s not to the public welfare.” Jake Laperruque, Senior Counsel with The Constitution Project at POGO, in City Lab   “There have obviously been a number of IGs that have been removed but this one, I really do think is kind of the four-alarm fire for Congress that if they don't step up in a more significant way than they have, I really just don't know how the IG system can effectively function.” Mandy Smithberger, Director of the Center for Defense Information at POGO, in CNN   “The president is essentially driving a semi-truck through the fundamental structure of inspectors general.” Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy, in Reason   “The funding comes with strings attached, and those strings give industry leverage over the consumer protection agency.” David Hilzenrath, Chief Investigative Reporter, on KGO's Consumer Talk   “My only hope is this ongoing and increasingly brazen behavior by the president with regards to IGs can only finally embolden the Congress to take this step and pass a law that will prohibit the president from doing that.” Danielle Brian, Executive Director, on Wisconsin Public Radio

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.

Project On Government Oversight 1100 G Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 United States