IG-nominious president

President Trump’s war on independent oversight continues apace. This is how good government ends. Friday, he sacked State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, reportedly over two separate probes of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: an allegation that he used official staff for personal errands, such as dog-walking, and a far more serious one. According to Rep. Eliot Engel, who helms the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the IG was investigating “Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia.”

Trump says, “I have the absolute right to terminate [Linick].” That may be legally true , but inspectors general are supposed to have independence to investigate executive branch wrongdoing. Strip that away, and they may as well not exist.

In a pro forma statement explaining the removal, Trump announced that he had “lost confidence” in Linick. Sen. Chuck Grassley demanded a more detailed explanation. That’s adorable; Grassley raised similar objections two months ago over the dismissal of intelligence community IG Michael Atkinson, who had approved the Ukraine whistleblower complaint that led to Trump’s impeachment. Trump ignored Grassley then, and he’s sure to ignore him again. Arrogance is a hell of a drug.

For those keeping score, Trump recently replaced the Health and Human Services Department’s deputy IG after a scathing report showing how hospitals were illequipped to conduct coronavirus testing, and sacked the Pentagon IG, who was scheduled to oversee spending on the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The executive has run amok. What will Congress do about it?