The GOP president has been dismissive of independent watchdogs and jettisoned several, prompting Democrats to question whether the Iowa Republican will stand up to Trump.
The 665-word letter had gone, as expected, unanswered. So Sen. Charles E. Grassley fired off an email to the White House Counsel’s Office, pressing for an explanation as to why President Trump abruptly dismissed an inspector general who had played a key role in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump’s impeachment.
Grassley says he resents Democrats questioning his dedication to protecting these government officials. But so far amid Trump’s rapid-fire dismissals of the watchdogs, he has refrained from taking aggressive action beyond sending carefully worded letters that don’t appear to have had much, if any, impact on Trump’s attitude or actions toward inspectors general.The 86-year-old Grassley is coming under criticism that on protecting government watchdogs in the Trump era, he’s all bark and no bite.
A 1978 law created the modern-day inspector general, and Grassley was elected to the Senate two years later. The dozens of inspectors general across the administration conduct oversight of federal agencies, and although they are technically political appointees, their independence has long been prized.
Sen. Chris Murphy , who has drafted his own legislation to protect inspectors general, dismissed the letters, arguing that “they’re of absolutely no utility” because Trump ignores them.“I think the broader problem here is that the Republican Congress, the Republican Senate just believes it’s an appendage of the White House,” Murphy said. “They act as if they work for the president.
For instance, in 2003, Grassley and then-Sen. Max Baucus raised public concerns about Janet Rehnquist, the daughter of the former chief justice who had been serving as the inspector general for HHS, ultimately leading to her resignation.
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