It gets more terrifying with every headline. There are no guardrails.

Trump fires inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies

In theory he’s not allowed to do that – the whole point is that they’re independent. In reality, he does whatever he wants. There are no guardrails.

During Trump’s first term, he gutted his administration of independent government watchdogs he saw as disloyal. An IG conducts investigations and audits into any potential malfeasance, fraud, waste or abuse by a government agency or its personnel, and issues reports and recommendations on its findings. An IG office is intended to operate independently.

Which it can’t do if the presider can just bounce up and fire them all.

Partly in reaction to Trump’s last IG firings, Congress built new guardrails intended to protect them. A 2023 law requires the White House to provide substantive rationale for terminating any inspector general.

And it doesn’t matter, because Trump does whatever he wants.