Trump fires 17 independent watchdogs at multiple agencies by the end of the evening

In a late-night move Friday, President Donald Trump fired at least 17 independent watchdogs—known as inspectors general—at several federal agencies, sources familiar with the move told ABC News.

Talks to remove these government watchdogs began during Trump’s transition back to the White House.

While inspectors can generally be fired by the president—it can only happen after communicating with Congress 30 days in advance, and in 2022 Congress strengthened the law requiring administrations to provide a detailed rationale for firing an IG.

There’s not yet a full list of all the IGs affected, but at least one high-profile watchdog — Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz — didn’t receive notice he was fired last night.

Horowitz is an Obama appointee and has issued reports that have been critical of both the Trump and Biden administrations.

The current law also requires any acting IGs to come from the IG community, although it is unclear whether the Trump White House believes they have to follow this aspect of the law.

The inspectors general were blindsided via emails they received Friday night from Sergio Gor, the White House director of presidential staff, according to a source with knowledge of the firings.

“I am writing to inform you that, due to changed priorities, your position … has been terminated,” read the emails reviewed by ABC News.

Many of the IGS had met with Trump transition officials at their agencies and had productive conversations with the incoming administration, the source said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Saturday that Congress did not get the required 30-day notice.

“There may be good reason why the IGS was fired. We need to know that if that is the case. I would like further explanation from President Trump,” Grassley said in a statement provided to ABC News. “Regardless, the 30-day detailed notice of removal required by law was not provided to Congress.”

Grassley told ABC News earlier this week that the president must tell Congress before removal.

“First of all, to remind you that our inspector general cannot be removed from office until the president, and that’s any president, not just Trump. So this is a message to all these presidents, you have to tell Congress a month ahead Time the grounds to remove them,” Grassley said.

He added, “And the other thing is that inspectors general are expected to be independent of political pressure, independent of the head of the agency, and to make sure that the law is enforced and money is spent properly, and there should be no political pressure against anything of his work.”

In a letter to the White House on Friday, Mike Ware, the Small Business Administration inspector general and chairman of the Board of Inspectors General for Integrity and Effectiveness, said the firing of the independent email watchdogs is not “legally sufficient to reject presidential surveillance , the Senate confirmed inspectors general.

The letter, obtained by ABC News, goes on to explain the removal process codified in the 2022 amendments to the Inspector General Act.

“The requirement to provide the substantive justification, including detailed and case-specific reasons, was added to better enable Congress to participate in and respond to a proposed removal of an inspector general to protect the inspector general’s independence,” Ware wrote.

In floor remarks Saturday morning, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer tore into the Trump administration for making the move, saying the layoffs are a possible violation of federal law.

“These firings are Donald Trump’s way of telling us that he is afraid of accountability and hostile to facts and to transparency,” Schumer said.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst launched a bipartisan IG caucus just ten days ago.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the newly minted group, told ABC News that he will look to his Republican colleagues on that panel to take some kind of action.

“We have a group, and it’s bipartisan, that supports the inspectors of inspectors, and I think that’s a real test of whether they’re willing to unleash an unchecked wave of corruption and waste,” he said.

Reaction among Republican senators was mixed.

Texas late. John Cornyn deferred to Grassley when asked for comment.

“I think we’re just taking it one step at a time and trying to understand what the rationale was,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he believes many of the inspector generals need to be replaced and that Trump ultimately has the power to do so. But he noted there may be a process to follow.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who helped pass the 2022 legislation that strengthened the law requiring administrations to provide a detailed rationale for firing an IG, said she was frustrated by Trump’s move.

“I don’t understand why you would fire individuals whose mission is to root out waste, fraud and abuse,” Collins said. “So this leaves a hole in what I know is a priority for President Trump, so I don’t understand.”

However, some Republican senators who have been staunch supporters of Trump praised the firings.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said he’s “all for it” when asked about Trump’s move to dismiss the inspector general.

“We have to clean house. I mean, if they’re not for this country to go further down the road,” he said.

However, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said the firing of the IGs was “yet another example of the lack of respect for the rule of law.”

“He seems to be trying to throw a monkey wrench into kind of every independence that’s left in our government,” Warner said of Trump. “The whole idea of ​​inspector generals is to have that independent check. Who will take these jobs going forward?”

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.