Trump fires another inspector general, raising fears about oversight independence

President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 fired the inspector general for the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., according to an official familiar with the situation. This latest action could further weaken the independence of watchdogs that root out waste, fraud and abuse in government agencies. 

On Oct. 17, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a longtime IG defender, posted on X that the White House flouted a statutory requirement to inform Congress about the removal in advance and provide the “substantive rationale.” 

“Pres Trump takes an oath to uphold the constitution & the laws but he hasn’t told Congress he was firing the Ex-Im Inspector General The law says POTUS has to specifically inform Congress abt IG firings and unless the courts say otherwise thats still the law,” he wrote.

Grassley’s office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Likewise, Trump fired 17 IGs on the fifth day of his second term without congressional notice or justification. A federal judge wrote that it was “obvious” the president broke federal law with respect to the removals, but she rejected a request by some of them to be reinstated after determining they could not show they suffered irreparable harm. 

Mark Lee Greenblatt, the former Interior Department IG who was fired by Trump in January, posted on LinkedIn on Oct. 16 that Parisa Salehi had been removed from her position as EXIM’s watchdog. 

“Parisa Salehi is exactly who the American people should want as an inspector general,” Greenblatt said in a statement to Government Executive. “Her decades-long track record of oversight is unfailingly fair and objective. Her firing is another loss for the American taxpayer.” 

Salehi was confirmed to the IG position by the Senate in 2022 by voice vote. She previously served as the chief of staff at the State Department IG and in the Senior Executive Service at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s watchdog office. 

The Project on Government Oversight also condemned her firing. 

"President Trump has yet again broken the law by firing an inspector general without the appropriate notice to Congress,” Faith Williams, director of the nonprofit’s effective and accountable government program, said in a statement to Government Executive. “These illegal firings undermine the independence of the inspector general system, hampering watchdogs' ability to hold the federal government accountable."

White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to Government Executive that: “The administration remains committed to finding the best, most qualified individuals who are aligned with the president’s vision to make America great again.” 

EXIM did not respond to a request for comment. The agency helps finance private companies to sell globally. 

Since the start of the new fiscal year, the Trump administration has blocked funding to a central watchgroup group called the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. As a result, certain congressionally mandated activities have ceased and several IG websites have gone dark or have limited functionality. CIGIE’s platform had hosted the webpages, which include past reports and channels for whistleblowers to submit disclosures. 

An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson previously said in a statement to Government Executive that IGs “have become corrupt, partisan and in some cases, have lied to the public. The American people will no longer be funding this corruption.”

During his first term, Trump fired the IG whose notification to Congress led to his first impeachment. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has ordered changes to the military’s IG process after saying in a Sept. 30 speech to senior military leaders that it “has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver's seat.”

Hegseth is currently under evaluation by the DOD IG, at the request of Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., over his use of Signal to inadvertently share information about military operations in Yemen with a journalist.