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President Donald Trump fired the top watchdog at the Interior department as part of an unprecedented purge of 18 inspectors general across federal agencies. "I did it because it’s a very common thing to do," Trump said, despite the firings being highly unusual.
The duties of IGs include conducting independent and objective audits, investigations, and inspections of their agencies and preventing and detecting waste, fraud, and abuse, among many other responsibilities. IGs are typically considered to be independent figures within government agencies.
Mark Lee Greenblatt, who was the Interior Department's IG until Trump fired him on Friday, was appointed by Trump in 2019. “This raises an existential threat with respect to the primary independent oversight function in the federal government,” Greenblatt told the New York Times. “We have preserved the independence of inspectors general by making them not swing with every change in political party.”
Whether the firings were legal is not yet clear, according to NBC News. The Inspector General Act, amended by Congress in 2022, 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.
Bill introduced to block sale of federal land
House Republicans have floated the idea of selling federal public lands to pay for tax cuts under President Trump, but some lawmakers are pushing back. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana and Representative Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico introduced H.R.718 last week, which would block the Interior and Agriculture departments from disposing of federal lands.
“It’s a no now. It will be a no later. It will be a no forever,” Zinke told The Washington Times.
Zinke also has introduced a measure that would support creation and protection of migratory routes for wildlife, which is cosponsored by Representative Donald Beyer of Virginia.
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Utahns should tell their leaders once and for all to stop wasting their time and money on this wild goose chase and embrace the ongoing gift of American public lands—not the grift of trying to sell them.”
