State Department watchdog sacked

Congressional Democrats launched an investigation after President Donald Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick on Friday. Counting Linick, the president has removed four agency inspectors general within six weeks. Democrats on Saturday asked the Trump administration to turn over documents related to the firing by Friday.

Whom else did Trump dismiss? The president demoted acting Defense Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, who was responsible for monitoring the administration’s spending on the coronavirus pandemic. He also fired the inspector general of the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson, and Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm. Inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the president, so it is within Trump’s prerogative to remove them.

Dig deeper: Read Marvin Olasky’s interview with Brian Miller, former inspector general of the U.S. General Services Administration.