Pompeo fires State Dept. watchdog critical of Prez

Washington, May 16: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has fired the State Department’s inspector general, an Obama administration appointee whose office was critical of alleged political bias in the agency’s management.

The ouster is the latest in a series of moves against independent executive branch watchdogs who have found fault with the Trump administration. A senior department official said Pompeo removed Steve Linick from his job Friday but gave no reason for his removal.

Linick had served in the job since 2013. His office had issued several reports critical of the department’s handling of personnel matters, including accusing some of President Donald Trump’s appointees of retaliating against career officials. Linick will replaced by Stephen Akard, a former career foreign service officer who has close ties to Vice President

Mike Pence, said the official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Akard currently runs the department’s Office of Foreign Missions. He had been nominated to be the director general of the foreign service but withdrew after objections he wasn’t experienced enough.

Linick, a former assistant US attorney in California

and Virginia, had overseen inspector general reports that were highly critical of the department’s management policies during the Trump administration.

His office had criticised several Trump appointees for their treatment of career staff for apparently being insufficiently supportive of Trump and his policies.