President Donald Trump on Friday fired at least 12 inspectors general in the federal government, a senior White House official confirmed to NBC News.
The move did not affect the inspectors general for the Justice Department or the Department of Homeland Security.
When asked why the inspectors general were fired, the official said the move was an effort by the president to let go of parts of the past Biden administration that don’t “align” with the new Trump administration.
“We’re cleaning house of what doesn’t work for us and going forward,” the official said.
The legal justification for the firings is murky, given that Congress strengthened protections for inspectors general from undue terminations when it amended the Inspector General Act in 2022.
The law requires a 30-day notification window between the White House informing Congress of its intent to fire an inspector general and that inspector general being removed from on-duty status. The White House must also provide substantive reasons for why the inspector general is being removed.
When asked whether the White House was concerned about the legality of the firings, given the required 30-day congressional notice for each inspector general, the official said a lot of these decisions happen with “legal counsel looking over them.” The official added that they were checking with the White House counsel’s office but didn’t think the administration had broken any laws.
The firings were first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Inspectors general are typically considered to be independent figures within government agencies. They are tasked with conducting objective audits within their agency and they are expected to investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse of power within their departments.
In response to the firings, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, the head of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, sent a letter to his fellow inspectors general asking them to tell him if they were terminated and informing them that his council “is coordinating a response to the White House and wants to account for all the PAS IG’s that have received a notification.”
NBC News confirmed that Ware also sent a letter on behalf of CIGIE to the White House and to lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the firings.
In the letter, Ware addressed the legality of the firings, writing, “At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.”
Separately, Ware released a statement arguing that “removals inconsistent with the law are a significant threat to the actual and perceived independence of IGs.”
“IGs are not immune from removal,” he added. “However, the law must be followed to protect independent government oversight for America.”
Ware was among the inspectors general whom Trump fired on Friday. The Department of Education confirmed to NBC News that its department’s inspector general was also among those fired on Friday.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee also noted that Trump’s decision did not abide by the firing process laid out in federal legislation. The senator led the push to protect inspectors general in the 2022 update to federal law.
“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress,” Grassley told NBC News in a statement.
Trump’s move also drew swift condemnation from Democrats on Friday night and early Saturday.
In a speech on the Senate floor Saturday morning, Schumer called the firings a “chilling purge,” saying, “Yesterday, in the dark of night, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals at important federal agencies across the administration. This is a chilling purge, and it’s a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration are taking far too often as he’s becoming president.”
Schumer added, “These dismissals are possibly in violation of federal law, which requires Congress to have 30 days notice of any intent to fire inspectors general.”
Danielle Brian, the executive director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, also raised concerns about the legality of the firings and Trump’s desire to get rid of “checks and balances.”
“It’s clear that this move demonstrates that this White House is really keen on removing checks and balances, and this was their one tool about rooting out waste and fraud and they shot themselves in the foot,” Brian told NBC News.
“I am still not convinced they will get away with this,” she added.
In a post on X, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also called the firings a “purge” and added, “President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”
In a statement, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, also slammed Trump’s decision, calling it a “Friday night coup” and “an attack on transparency and accountability.”
