Inspectors general Trump fired sue to get their watchdog jobs back

Posted by author February 12, 2025 Jobs

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WASHINGTON – A group of inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump last month are suing to be reinstated, asserting he violated federal law by terminating them without notifying Congress and outlining reasons for their ouster.

The former government watchdogs at the Pentagon and departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, State, Education, Labor and Veterans Affairs filed the lawsuit Wednesday. The action came less than three weeks after the officials received emails notifying them of their firings late on the first Friday night after Trump took office.

“The firing of the independent nonpartisan inspectors general was a clear violation of the law,” Michael Missal, former inspector general at the VA, told USA TODAY. “The IG’s are bringing this action for reinstatement so that they can go back to work fighting fraud, waste and abuse on behalf of the American public.”

Tuesday night, the White House fired the inspector general at USAID, the US Agency for International Development, according to a source briefed on the termination. The firing came a day after Paul K. Martin issued a scathing report saying staff cuts and funding pauses at the agency put more than $489 million in food assistance around the world at risk of spoiling.

Trump’s firing of inspectors was contentious

A president can fire inspectors general, but Congress requires 30 days’ notice and an explanation for removing an inspector general.

The top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to Trump asking for an explanation about the ousters.

“While IGs aren’t immune from committing acts requiring their removal, and they can be removed by the president, the law must be followed,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote to Trump, asking for his justifications. “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 inspectors general are independent watchdogs within agencies who investigate and disclose waste, fraud and abuse. Missal, who had been inspector general since 2016 at Veterans Affairs, was one of 17 fired without notice.

The eight former officials in the lawsuit reviewed agencies worth a combined $5 trillion annually with more than 3.5 million federal employees. Their work stopped fraud, put fraudsters in prison, helped to end mistreatment of vulnerable citizens and ensured veterans, farmers, senior citizens and disaster victims got the services they deserved, according to the lawsuit.

Trump firings have sometimes sparked litigation

The inspectors-general lawsuit comes at a time when the Trump administration is embroiled in litigation about proposed ousters and resignations. Trump and his aides have argued that as the head of the executive branch, he can remove anyone he wants. But several of the changes sparked lawsuits.

The Justice Department and FBI told top officials who investigated Trump and the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, to resign or be fired.

Trump tried to fire the head of the Federal Elections Commission, but she refused to leave. Trump tried to fire the head of the Office of Government Ethics, but a federal judge temporarily reinstated Hampton Dellinger, who argued he was removed unlawfully, while the case is litigated.

Among the inspectors general, Phyllis Fong at the Agriculture Department was escorted out of the building by security agents after she refused to comply with her firing, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, didn’t think the administration followed proper protocols, the sources said.

What do inspectors general do?

At the VA, Missal and his investigators disclosed deadly problems affecting veterans during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

The problems included identifying and prosecuting a serial killer at the VA hospital in Clarksburg, W.V., where a nurse murdered a string of elderly veterans with fatal doses of insulin; and a pathologist in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who was fired for being drunk on the job and charged in the deaths of three veterans.

“One of the most jarring emails I got was on a Monday morning – a veteran’s buddy didn’t get the help he needed from the (Veterans Crisis Line),” Missal told USA TODAY. “He said I don’t know who else to turn to. He shot himself.”

The VA inspector general followed up on the case. While the veteran survived, investigators uncovered problems at the suicide hotline and issued reports making recommendations for improvements. The VA instituted reforms that have saved lives, Missal said.

“I think we made such a difference for veterans and their families,” he said. “I’m passionate about the work we did, about the mission of oversight and want to continue to help veterans and their families.