President Trump has replaced the Pentagon’s top watchdog a week after he was named to lead a committee charged with overseeing the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.
Glenn Fine, who has served as acting Pentagon inspector general since 2016, will go back to being the principal deputy inspector general and will no longer lead the coronavirus relief oversight panel, his office said Tuesday.
“Yesterday, the president nominated Mr. Jason Abend for the position of DoD Inspector General,” Dwrena Allen, spokeswoman at the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, said in an email. “The same day, the president also designated Mr. Sean W. O’Donnell, who is the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General (EPA IG), to serve as the Acting DoD IG in addition to his current duties at the EPA.”
The EPA IG’s office similarly told The Hill that O’Donnell “is filling both roles for now” and that “no changes are expected at the EPA OIG.”
Fine “remains focused and committed to the important mission of the DoD OIG,” Allen added.
The move also means that Fine is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, she said.
The panel of inspectors general was created by the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill Congress passed last month to audit and investigate implementation of the bill.
Fine was appointed as chairman of the committee last week, a move that won praise across the political spectrum.
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The move follows several steps Trump has taken to combat oversight of the bailout fund. After signing the relief package into law last month, the president issued a signing statement saying he would not allow the special inspector general for the relief program to report to Congress without his supervision.
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Trump replaces Pentagon IG, removing him from coronavirus relief oversight panel https://t.co/3aDWyUdWbf pic.twitter.com/shJS1cejLz
— The Hill (@thehill) April 7, 2020
Unreal. this should be a code red alarm. Trump has summarily removed Glenn Fine, the universally well respected IG who was tabbed to oversee his administration's management of the $2 trillion stimulus package. Deep deep rot.https://t.co/vsHkc3esqu
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) April 7, 2020
I know him and can tell you he was a total pain in our rear end as DOJ IG, which is exactly what you want from an IG and exactly why Trump has fired him. He’s tough, rigorous, and fair. https://t.co/0m79KzRLR6
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) April 7, 2020
Pelosi: "Fine was appointed by the president just around a week ago, and now since he was chosen by his colleagues to lead the pandemic oversight committee, he is now being removed by the president, the president sending in some of his loyalists. So this is really a problem." pic.twitter.com/WvGroSxrbv
— The Hill (@thehill) April 8, 2020
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