Democrats are insufferable.
As President of the United States, Donald Trump is head of the executive branch of government. US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a bureaucracy within the executive branch, which means Trump is the boss of USDA and its employees, including the inspector general.
The role of the modern-day inspector general dates to post-Watergate Washington, when Congress installed offices inside agencies as an independent check against mismanagement and abuse of power. Though inspectors general are presidential appointees, some serve presidents of both parties. All are expected to be nonpartisan. (AP)
On January 24, 2025, President Trump fired about 17 independent inspectors general at various federal government agencies, effective immediately.
But the IG of USDA, one Phyllis Fong, simply refused to comply, and had to be escorted out of her office by security guards.
USDA IG Phyllis Fong
Townhall reports, Jan. 29, 2025:
The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture was escorted out of her office by security on Wednesday after she refused to leave following her dismissal by the Trump administration last week.
Phyllis Fong, one of the 17 watchdogs fired last week, told colleagues of her plan to stay, believing the Trump administration did not follow the correct protocols, Reuters reports.
The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency “has taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time,” she wrote in an email to colleagues over the weekend.
Sen. Chuck Grassley has also said the administration did not give the proper 30-day notice of removal to Congress.
But the White House defended the move. “It is the belief of this White House and the White House counsel’s office that the president was within his executive authority” to do so, [White House Press Secretary Karoline] Leavitt said Tuesday.
Trump, she added, “is the executive of the executive branch, and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to.”
Leavitt then referenced a 2020 Supreme Court decision, Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which ruled that the CFPB’s agency structure violates the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution. “I would advise you to look at that case, and that’s the legality that this White House was resting on,” Leavitt said.
Asked by the reporter whether the Trump administration believed its order would survive a lawsuit or court challenge from the former inspectors general, Leavitt responded affirmatively. “We will win in court,” she said decisively, before moving on. (Fox News)
In 2002, Phyllis Fong was nominated by then-President George W. Bush to serve as the IG of USDA. I cannot find Fong’s party affiliation but from her behavior, we have good reason to suspect her of being a Democrat. This is how the White House defended firing her and the other inspectors general (TimesNow):
“These rogue, partisan bureaucrats… have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy.”
President Trump has a good reason to fire Fong — she wasn’t doing her Inspector General job. Look what Elon Musk’s DOGE found:
~E
