Inspector General Council Says White House Firing of Government Watchdogs Not Legal

President Donald Trump has reportedly dismissed at least a dozen inspectors general—presidentially-appointed watchdogs who oversee government agencies—prompting allegations that the move is illegal, setting up a possible showdown in court over the purported firings. Hannibal Ware, the inspector general for the Small Business Administration (SBA) and chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), said in a Jan. 24 letter sent to Sergio Gor, director of presidential personnel at the White House, objecting to a series of dismissal emails Gor had sent to a number of inspector generals—including to Ware. “I am writing in response to your email sent to me and other Inspectors General earlier this evening wherein you informed each of us that ‘due to changing priorities, your position as Inspector General … is terminated, effective immediately,'” Ware wrote in the letter to Gor....