Democrats protest removal of Transportation watchdog
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are protesting President Donald Trump's decision to remove the Transportation Department's acting inspector general, the latest in a string of actions by Trump to fire or replace government watchdogs.
The Democratic chairs of three House panels on Tuesday demanded that Mitch Behm be reinstated immediately as acting inspector general. The lawmakers also demanded that the Trump administration turn over information about current investigations that might have played a role in Behm's removal, including a review of whether Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has given preferential treatment to Kentucky. Her husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is seeking reelection.
Behm's removal “is the latest in a series of politically motivated firings of inspectors general by President Trump,'' the lawmakers wrote. "This assault on the integrity and independence of inspectors general appears to be an intentional campaign to undermine their ability to expose corruption and protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse.”
The letter was signed by Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation Committee; Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York ;and Virginia Rep. Gerald Connolly, who leads an Oversight subcommittee.
The lawmakers were referring to a series of actions by Trump in recent weeks, including his firing Friday night of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. Democrats say Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a $7 billion Saudi arms sale over congressional objections.
The removals of Linick and Behm are part of a pattern of Trump taking aim at inspectors general.
In April, he fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, for his role in the whistleblower...