Trump Fires Government Watchdogs in ‘Illegal’ Midnight Massacre

President Donald Trump fired at least 15 government watchdogs in a Friday night bloodbath, marking his latest act in brazen defiance of the country’s norms and laws, according to multiple reports.

The move appears to violate federal law, which requires at least 30 days’ notice to Congress before terminating an inspector general, as the watchdogs are officially known.

However, Politico’s top legal reporter, Kyle Cheney, suggested on X that the White House is likely to argue that the violated provision is unconstitutional.

“This will be a fight,” he wrote.

The fired inspectors were employed at least 14 federal agencies, including the departments of defense, state, and labor, according to The Washington Post. As a safeguard against corruption, their jobs included auditing and investigating the work of the agency to which they are assigned.

Inspectors general are appointed by presidents and confirmed by the Senate.

The inspectors were informed of their dismissals in emails from the White House, which offered no substantive explanation, Politico reported. At least one email cited “changing priorities.”

No notice was offered to Congress ahead of time, according to Politico.

Diana Shaw, a former inspector general at the Department of State, told Politico that the purge was “the travesty we feared may be coming.”

“If legal, and I think that’s an open question under the law requiring 30-day congressional notification prior to the firing of an IG, it risks changing forever what we have historically valued most about IGs—their independence, objectivity, and non-partisanship,” she added. “Without it, the function would be gutted of its greatest value and the entire system will suffer.”

A fired watchdog told The Washington Post, “It’s a widespread massacre.” They added, “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”

Several advocates of the watchdogs were bewildered that some of the individuals who were fired were Trump appointees, reported Politico.

Notably, the Department of Justice’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, was among those spared by the purge, multiple outlets reported. He was appointed by Barack Obama in 2012.

Horowitz is prominent among inspectors general both because of his lengthy tenure and the sensitive nature of his department’s work. In the past, he has issued reports critical of both the Biden and Trump administrations.

Trump’s move sparked immediate backlash from Democrats in Congress.

In a Saturday morning X post, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote, “President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption.”

Rep. Gerald Connolly, meanwhile, deemed the move a “Friday night coup” and an “attack on transparency and accountability,” according to Politico.

Some Republicans, like Sen. Chuck Grassley, struck a different chord.

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired,” he said in a statement, according to the Post. “We need to know that if so. I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress.”