When asked why the inspectors general were fired, the White House official said the move was an effort by the president to let go of parts of the past Biden administration that don’t “align” with the new Trump administration. “We’re cleaning house of what doesn’t work for us and going forward,” the official said. The legal justification for the firings is murky, given that Congress strengthened protections for inspectors general from undue terminations when it amended the Inspector General Act in 2022. The law requires a 30-day notification window between the White House informing Congress of its intent to fire an inspector general and that inspector general being removed from on-duty status. The White House must also provide substantive reasons for why the inspector general is being removed.

The Trump administration has fired about 17 independent inspectors general at government agencies, a sweeping action to remove oversight of his new administration that some members of Congress are suggesting violated federal oversight laws. The dismissals began Friday night and were effective immediately, according to two people familiar with the actions. They spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public. Neither confirmed the exact number of firings, but an email sent by one of the fired inspectors general said “roughly 17” inspectors general had been removed. Trump confirmed the move in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, claiming, “it’s a very common thing to do.” He said he would “put good people in there that will be very good.”

President Donald Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs at various federal agencies late Friday, a Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News, as he continues to reshape the government at a blistering pace. Trump dismissed inspectors general at agencies within the Defense Department, State Department, Energy Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department of Veterans Affairs and more, notifying them by email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, the Washington Post first reported. "It’s a widespread massacre," one of the terminated inspectors general told the Post. "Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system."