On the fifth day of his second term, Donald Trump fired a sizable group of inspectors general without cause. These government watchdogs are responsible for investigating internal wrongdoing, possible ethical lapses, mismanagement, alleged corruption and fraud, and for reasons the president has not yet explained, he showed them the door on the fifth day of his second term.
The so-called midnight massacre was controversial for a variety of reasons, not least of which was that Trump’s move appeared to be at odds with federal law. As The New York Times reported, “The firings defied a law that requires presidents to give Congress 30 days’ advance notice before removing any inspector general, along with reasons for the firing. Just two years ago, Congress strengthened that provision by requiring the notice to include a ‘substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the removal.’”
In other words, there were legal constraints in place. The Republican preferred to simply ignore them.
It was the first recent example of Trump trying to sidestep the law in order to oust officials he wanted to fire, but it wasn’t the last. Take late last week, for example, when the White House sent an email to Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, telling him his services are no longer needed.
Under existing law, presidents can’t fire these officials — who are responsible for, among other things, protecting government whistleblowers — without cause. Trump did it anyway.
This week, Dellinger brought the matter to court and was quickly reinstated. NBC News reported: Late Monday, a judge issued an order that did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit but said Dellinger should stay in his role through at least midnight Thursday while the judge gets more detailed legal arguments about the case. In a written statement, Dellinger said: “I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue leading the Office of Special Counsel and I am resuming my work tonight.” The Justice Department appealed the judge’s order.
If the broader circumstances — Trump fires officials, despite laws that clearly suggest he can’t — sound familiar, it’s not your imagination. Consider the growing list of legally dubious presidential dismissals: To be sure, many of those targeted as part of this purge have gone to court, and some, such as Dellinger, have had some preliminary success. But when taking stock of Trump’s overt hostility toward the rule of law and legal limits, it’s important to add this list to the broader indictment.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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