While President Trump does battle against the invisible enemy of the coronavirus, he seems on the verge of starting another war — on very visible inspectors general.
On Tuesday, Trump removed Glenn Fine, the Pentagon IG tapped just a week ago to head the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, which will monitor the disbursement of more than $2 trillion in economic relief.
Trump nominated Jason Abend to replace Fine at the Pentagon, but with the Senate out until at least April 20 — and a shortened calendar because of the election — he’s unlikely to get confirmed and take the reins any time soon. Trump named Sean O’Donnell as the acting replacement, leaving him to do the job along with his duties as the IG for the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Defense Department is huge, so it’s hard to see how O’Donnell can handle all these responsibilities effectively.
Whatever the cause for Fine’s demotion, it looks terrible, coming days after the prez fired one IG and attacked another.
On Friday night, with classic bury-the-news timing, Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence-community IG who informed Congress of the whistleblower complaint about Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president. Trump seems intent on getting rid of anyone who had anything to do with impeachment.
Then Trump — in person and on Twitter — savaged the Department of Health and Human Services IG, Christi Grimm. Her report, released Monday, detailed shocking shortages of tests and medical supplies at the nation’s hospitals.
The basic facts are hardly news, but Trump called it “Another Fake Dossier!”
The president has done much good during this crisis. But his inability to accept any sort of criticism, or any sort of oversight, hurts his credibility.
Take the HHS report and learn from it, crack down on the agencies responsible; you blasted bureaucratic bungling during the campaign — that’s exactly what the IGs are tasked with uncovering.
Trump does the nation, and himself, a disservice in shooting these watchdogs.