I heard “out of the corner of my ear” on today’s Today show that Trump had fired several departments’ inspector generals. I Googled for it; and it turns out to be true: he did indeed fire 17 IGs overnight, presumably to replace them with the usual yes-men. I won’t bother including any links since several stories from outlets like Reuters all the way to Bezos’ Washington Post showed up right at the top.
It turns out that there’s a 2020 law that says that the president must give Congress 30 days notice before such a firing; and several congresscritters (including Republicans like Grassley) have already opposed the move. We’ll see whether there are enough principled Republicans for the Congress to say, “no, you can’t do that”.
Betteridge’s law of headlines, assuming you’re asking for people to bet on what they think the answer is.
I’d be surprised if there are enough principled Republicans to fill a phone box. (Kids, ask your grandad what a phonebox was…)
Having lived in Iowa, I can confidently say Grassley is by no means one of the principled ones. So don’t be surprised if he changes his tune if this story becomes forgotten later in the week.
Leo Buzalsky: I’ll take your word on Grassley in general; but a couple of news stories said that he has a long history of supporting strong independent IGs in particular. We’ll see whether his support declines precipitously in the coming days. (Could he get primaried in 2026, or does he still have longer than that in his current term?)
“I’d be surprised if there are enough principled Republicans to fill a phone box.”
Back in my student days, as a prank, we decided to test how many people you could fit in a phone box. It’s surprisingly many.
More than enough to swing a controversial vote, for example.
“Could he get primaried in 2026, or does he still have longer than that in his current term?”
He’s 91. I’m not sure he has longer than that in his current life. But he’s not up until 2028.