On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that changes would be coming to the department’s inspector general office. This announcement came only a couple hours after it was disclosed that the Office of Management and Budget had effectively defunded an office that supports and trains oversight employees who root out waste, fraud and abuse governmentwide.
Both moves raised red flags among bipartisan members of Congress and governmental oversight organizations who have been critical of President Donald Trump’s actions against inspectors general since he fired 17 of them during the first days of his second term.
“This is not the final step, but we're getting close to the final steps of undoing the entire system of oversight within the executive branch,” said Andrew Bakaj, chief legal counsel for the nonprofit Whistleblower Aid.
Hegseth and Defense Department
During his speech in Quantico, Virginia, to senior military leaders on Tuesday, Hegseth said that the IG process “has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver's seat.”
While also complaining about DOD equal opportunity and military equal opportunity programs, Hegseth said that there would be: “No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat complainants. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No more legal limbo. No more sidetracking careers. No more walking on eggshells.”
Bakaj argued that the event, at which Trump also spoke,...
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