Here’s All The Top Officials Trump Has Removed Since His Impeachment

TOPLINE

President Trump removed State Department inspector general Steve Linick from his post on Friday, part of a recurring theme lately of the president ousting top officials following the end of the impeachment trial in February and the onset of the coronavirus outbreak — two storylines that have elicited a significant amount of scrutiny.

KEY FACTS

Chief critic

Democratic lawmakers strongly opposed Trump’s removal of Linick. “The President’s late-night, weekend firing of the State Department inspector general has accelerated his dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people,” Pelosi wrote in a statement. “The President must cease his pattern of reprisal and retaliation against the public servants who are working to keep Americans safe, particularly during this time of global emergency.”

“This termination is not only another middle of the night purge of a government watchdog, but a potential cover up by President Trump and [Secretary Pompeo],” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-TX, wrote on Twitter.

Republican Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) also criticized Trump’s move.  

“The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose,” Romney said on Twitter. “It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power.”

Crucial quote

Few Republicans have commented on Linick’s removal. White House Economic adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he “support[s] whatever this president does in terms of his hiring and firing decisions” and that Trump “clearly has the legal authority” to fire Linick. Navarro also suggested that Linick may have been a part of the “deep state,” adding the White House has had “tremendous problems” with people not carrying out the “Trump agenda.”

Key background

The New York Times
NYT
reported Saturday that Pompeo urged President Trump to fire Linick, prompting Democrats to cry fowl. Congressional Democrats announced Saturday they would open an investigation into what they said “may be an act of illegal retaliation.”

“Such an action, transparently designed to protect Secretary Pompeo from personal accountability, would undermine the foundation of our democratic institutions and may be an illegal act of retaliation,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y), chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Sen Bob Menendez  (D-N.J), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote in a statement.

Further reading

Trump’s slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general (Washington Post)

Trump Continues Post-Impeachment Purge: Fourth Inspector General Gets The Axe (Forbes)

Democrats Launch Probe Into Trump’s Firing Of State Department Inspector General (NPR)

Trump Ousted State Dept. Watchdog at Pompeo’s Urging; Democrats Open Inquiry (New York Times)