#Trump fires #USAID #IG one day after blistering report
The WH fired the independent inspector general for the US Agency for International Development on Tues evening, a day after his office issued a blistering report assessing the impact of the Trump admin’s efforts to significantly curtail the agency’s mission.
#law #aid #SoftPower #TheCrueltyIsThePoint #USpol
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/11/trump-fires-usaid-inspector-general/
Paul K. Martin, appointed by Pres Biden in Dec 2023, was informed of his dismissal through a 2-sentence email from Trent Morse, dpty dir of the WH Office of Presidential Personnel….Martin oversaw a staff of 275 w/a dozen offices located abroad. “On behalf of President Donald Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Inspector General of the United States Agency for International Development is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” Morse wrote.
3 people w/knowledge of the event confirmed Martin was fired. The move follows #Trump’s Jan 24 firing of 17 inspectors general in a purge that violated a #law requiring the admin alert #Congress 30 days before such an action.
“Look what happens when you write a report critical of this admin: They fire you the next day…This chills independent oversight, & that’s exactly what we need right now,”said Michael Missal, fmr IG at #Veterans Affairs, who was among those fired by Trump last month.
The termination of Martin follows his office’s publication of a widely read report warning that more than $489 million in #food assistance was at risk of spoilage or potential diversion after the #Trump admin implemented its #aid freeze & stop-work order.
https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2025-02/USAID%20OIG%20-%20Oversight%20of%20USAID-Funded%20Humanitarian%20Assistance%20Programming%20021025.pdf
While most #USAID staffers have been placed on paid leave by the admin, the inspector general’s staff continued working….
…“The IG’s office knew there was a risk in publishing this report, but #USAID OIG has always been fiercely committed to fact-based independent oversight, no matter how inconvenient it was to any particular administration, Biden or Trump,” said a person who has worked w/ Martin’s office…
Former #Defense Department inspector general Rob Storch, who was fired by #Trump last month, said he worked with Martin on #Ukraine-related issues & called his work “exemplary.”
“It is critically important that IGs be empowered to conduct independent oversight, detecting & deterring waste, fraud, abuse, & corruption on behalf of the American people,” Storch said.
Martin’s office has several other investigations underway into the impact of the #Trump admin’s efforts to shutter much of #USAID’s work across the globe…. Among them is an examination of the severe staffing reductions on #humanitarian #aid across #Africa & in #Gaza…
#Trump’s decision to pause all #aid & impose a “stop work” order has also impacted programs around the world—from #HIV prevention in #Africa to #demining in #Cambodia & #antimalaria campaigns, despite efforts by Secy of State Marco Rubio to issue exemptions to the restrictions for “lifesaving” aid.
Aid experts worry that the termination of Martin & the closure of his team’s work facilities will mean more crises currently facing #USAID will go unreported.
Nonilex