White House fires USAID inspector general following critical report

President Trump’s White House fired the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday, a day after the watchdog office issued a report that was critical of the foreign assistance freeze, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill.

USAID’s Inspector General Paul Martin was reportedly fired around 6 p.m. local time. No reason was given for his termination, the source added.

Martin’s office published a 6-page report on Monday outlining how the recent State Department’s pause on foreign assistance programs and cutting down the USAID’s staff created “risks and challenges to the safeguarding and distribution of USAID’s $8.2 billion in obligated but undisbursed humanitarian assistance.”

“Specifically, USAID’s existing oversight controls—albeit with previously identified shortcomings—are now largely nonoperational given these recent directives and personnel actions,” the office wrote in the report.

Under the law, the administration is required to give 30-day notice to Congress prior to terminating an inspector general and give reasons why.

Inspectors general are tasked with leading investigations and audits into the abuse, fraud and waste of a government agency they are tied to. They can serve in multiple administrations and also release recommendations and findings of their probes.

Two weeks ago, Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general, including those who worked in the State Department, Energy Department, Defense Department, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and others.

The majority of the USAID staff has been placed on leave. The agency’s headquarters in Washington was closed. The administration has also cut ties with scores of contractors the agency worked with.

The agency’s watchdog office said in the Monday report that “recent widespread staffing reductions across the Agency, particularly within BHA, coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAID’s ability to distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance.”

The firing of Martin was reported earlier by CNN.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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