Trump's Mass Firing of U.S. Inspectors General

 For a few years in my corporate career, I was an internal technical auditor, checking geologic and engineering work.  The technical work established forecasts of future production that were released to shareholders according to standards defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  I was a founding member of the audit group.  I like to think that I was chosen because I am dedicated to truth and was not easily intimidated by higher-ranking managers.  The production forecasts played a role in determining bonuses for the business units, so there was a natural conflict of interest.  When people write their own report cards, it can lead to inaccuracies.

In the course of my work, I developed a completely unscientific rule-of-thumb.  Out of six people, three would produce reports that were squeaky-clean, two would bend the rules to make themselves look better, and one would cheat.  So, we would praise the three honest employees, scold the two bending the rules (and watched them more carefully) and fire the one who was cheating.  At least once, the guy cheating was the top manager running the business unit.  I suspect that the 3 – 2 – 1 ratio also applies to things like people filing their taxes or other aspects of life.

So, internal auditors are necessary.  In our government, the internal auditors are called Inspectors General, and there are a number of them (and associated investigators) in all of the major government departments.  The job of Inspector General was created by Congress in 1978 to reduce government waste and root out wrong-doing.  The law regarding Inspector Generals was amended in 2008, with the goal of increasing the independence of the Inspectors General.  The bill reads: “‘If an Inspector General is removed from office or is transferred to another position or location within an establishment, the President shall communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later than 30 days before the removal.”  It is implied that an Inspector General may only be removed for cause, and there is no exception to requirement of a 30-day notice to Congress.
Recently, the new president fired 19 of the Inspectors General in major government agencies, without giving the legally required 30-day notice to Congress, or cause for dismissal.

In my auditing work, the only ones pushing back against the auditors were the ones intent on doing wrong.  I can only make the same conclusion about the president’s dismissal of the Inspectors General.