Donald Trump’s war on inspectors general
BACK AT THE beginning of April, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report, based on a survey of hospital administrators across America, showing that hospitals were struggling to obtain covid-19 tests, personal protective equipment (PPE) and routine supplies such as loo paper. This did not please the president. At a press conference the same day, he mused, “It’s wrong…Where did he come from—the inspector general (IG)? What’s his name?” Her name was Christi Grimm, and on the evening of May 1st Mr Trump nominated her replacement.
Ms Grimm is the latest in a string of IGs whom Mr Trump has pushed aside. On April 3rd he removed Michael Atkinson, the intelligence-community IG, who alerted Congress to the whistle-blower’s complaint that led to his impeachment. On April 7th, Mr Trump ousted Glenn Fine from both a new role as chairman of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, created to oversee $2.2trn in federal relief spending, and from his post as acting IG for the Department of Defence. According to the sprightly Project on Government Oversight (POGO), a watchdog, 14 statutory federal IG positions are now vacant. Six have been so for more than a year.
The Inspector General Act of 1978, passed in Watergate’s wake, established IGs in 12 federal agencies....