Collins Very Concerned About Latest Watchdog Firing

Cox Media reports:

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Saturday denounced President Donald Trump’s firings of internal government oversight officials, calling it a “threat to accountable democracy.”

Romney’s comments came in response to Trump’s Friday firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake of the President’s acquittal on two articles of impeachment earlier this year.

Late Saturday night, Maine Sen. Susan Collins also responded to the firing in a series of tweets that suggested Linick’s dismissal didn’t meet the standard required by law.

I have long been a strong advocate for the Inspectors General. They are vital partners in Congress’s effort to identify inefficient or ineffective government programs and to root out fraud and other wrongdoing.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) May 17, 2020

The investigations and reports of IGs throughout the government help Congress shape legislation and oversight activities – improving government performance, providing important transparency into programs, and giving Americans better value for their tax dollar.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) May 17, 2020

In 2008, I coauthored with former Sens. McCaskill and Lieberman The Inspector General Reform Act (P.L. 110-40), which among other provisions requires the President to notify Congress 30 days prior to the removal of an Inspector General along with the reasons for the removal.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) May 17, 2020

The President has not provided the kind of justification for the removal of IG Linick required by this law.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) May 17, 2020