Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; Trump’s Friday night massacre is blatantly illegal
"Contempt for law. Contempt for Congress. Contempt for oversight. That is the lesson of President Donald Trump’s Friday night massacre of at least 15 inspectors general — most of them appointed by Trump himself in his first term.
The blatantly illegal action is troubling in itself — nonpartisan inspectors general play a critical role in assuring the lawful and efficient operations of government, in Democratic and Republican administrations alike. An administration supposedly focused on making government more efficient would be empowering inspectors general, not firing them en masse.
But this episode is even more alarming than that. It offers a chilling foreshadowing of Trump unbound, heedless of the rule of law and unwilling to tolerate any potential impediment to his authority."
