Trump removes watchdog tapped for $2T virus rescue oversight
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general tapped to chair a special oversight board of the $2.2 trillion economic package intended to help businesses and individuals affected by the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday.
Glenn
Fine, the acting Defense Department inspector general and a veteran
watchdog, had been selected by peers last month for the position. Now
it’s unclear who will oversee the rescue law.
The
move threatens to upend the rigorous oversight that Democrats in
Congress demanded for the huge sums of money being pumped into the
American economy because of the virus.
It’s also part of a
broader conflict between Trump, a president averse to outside criticism,
and the watchdog community tasked with identifying mismanagement and
problems inside government agencies
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
criticized Trump’s removal of Fine, saying he is moving to “undermine
oversight.” And Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer swiftly condemned
Trump’s action.
“President Trump is abusing the coronavirus
pandemic to eliminate honest and independent public servants because
they are willing to speak truth to power and because he is so clearly
afraid of strong oversight,” Schumer said in a statement.
Rep.
Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led Trump’s impeachment and subsequent Senate
prosecution, told The Associated Press that Trump’s actions were
“designed to neuter any kind of oversight of his actions and that of the
administration during a time of national crisis, when trillions of
dollars are being allocated to help the American people.”
Trump’s removal of Fine follows his late-night firing
on Friday of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector
general who forwarded to Congress a whistleblower complaint that
ultimately led to the president’s impeachment in the House.
On Monday, the president also publicly condemned the acting Health and Human Services watchdog over a survey of hospitals about the coronavirus response.
Trump
has bristled at the oversight of the coronavirus law, suggesting in a
statement last month that some of the mandates from Congress were
unconstitutional.
“I’ll be the oversight,” Trump declared as lawmakers were finalizing the rescue plan.
He has also drawn criticism for naming a White House lawyer to a new Treasury Department position overseeing $500 billion in coronavirus aid to industry.
Michael
Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general and chair of a
council of watchdogs, had moved quickly last month to appoint Fine the
head of the new coronavirus oversight board.
But Fine will no
longer be able to serve in the role because Trump has nominated a
replacement inspector general at the Pentagon and appointed an acting
one to serve in Fine’s place, according to an email from an assistant
Defense Department inspector general that was obtained by The Associated
Press.
The demotion disqualifies Fine from serving on the
oversight board, which was created by Congress to be the nexus of
oversight for coronavirus funding. He will instead revert to the
position of principal deputy inspector general.
Democrats
immediately criticized the move. House Oversight and Reform Chairwoman
Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said Trump’s actions are a “direct insult” to
American taxpayers.
“President Trump has been engaged in an
assault against independent Inspectors General since last Friday in
order to undermine oversight of his chaotic and deficient response to
the coronavirus crisis,” Maloney said.
Republican Sen. Charles
Grassley, a longtime whistleblower advocate, tweeted at Trump not to
view inspectors general as critics, though he didn’t mention Fine by
name. He said the officials hold the federal bureaucracy accountable.