WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a roundtable discussion with small business owners and members of his administration in the Roosevelt Room at the White House December 06, 2019 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump removed a federal inspector general overseeing implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan.
A panel of inspectors named Glenn Fine, the acting Pentagon watchdog, to lead the group in charge of distributing the coronavirus relief from the stimulus bill. However, Trump removed him from his post and instead put in the EPA inspector general as a temporary substitute.
CORONAVIRUS FAQ: WIKI OF MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
“Mr. Fine is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee,” Dwrena Allen, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon inspector general’s office, confirmed. She added that Fine would return to his post as principal deputy inspector general of the Pentagon.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
This is just one of the latest attempts by the president to remove independent federal watchdogs. Just last week, Trump also removed intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson. His handling of a whistleblower ended in Trump’s impeachment.
“The Inspector General Community will continue to conduct aggressive, independent oversight of the agencies that we oversee,” the president said in a statement after removing Atkinson.
Democrats have criticized the decision. “The sudden removal and replacement of Acting Inspector General Fine is part of a disturbing pattern of retaliation by the president against independent overseers fulfilling their statutory and patriotic duties to conduct oversight on behalf of the American people,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of trying to sideline “honest and independent public servants because they are willing to speak truth to power and because he is so clearly afraid of strong oversight.”
Last week, President Joe Biden announced that he would pardon 39 people and commute the prison sentences…
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) condemned his fellow Republican lawmakers during a rant on the House floor after…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_kYWlyzuiMk Rep. Mike Waltz did 44 pushups to honor a bet after the Army football…
In a series of X posts on Wednesday, the platform's CEO Elon Musk criticized a bipartisan spending…
"You can't love your country only when you win." President Joe Biden has repeated this phrase to…
Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pennsylvania), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, missed a committee meeting after…