A veteran inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to be escorted out of her office after refusing to accept President Donald Trump‘s decision to fire her.
Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, told colleagues she intended to stay on despite an edict from Trump demanding her contract be terminated.
In an email to colleagues on Saturday seen by Reuters, she said she didn’t believe the administration had followed proper protocols in terminating her contract.
She insisted that the independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency had taken the same position.
‘These termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time,’ she said.
As a result, Fong was escorted out of the building on Monday – her final day of employment.
The White House failed to publicly announce the bloodbath or provide any explanation for why it fired the officials, who are tasked with evaluating federal departments on issues including the law and use of taxpayer money.
The move sparked concerns from Republican and Democrat lawmakers that the president may have broken a federal law requiring Congress to be given 30-day notice of such firings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, told colleagues she intended to stay on despite an edict from Trump demanding her contract be terminated
Inspector generals for the departments of defense, state, transportation, veterans affairs, housing and urban development, interior, and energy were all let go.
The White House defended her termination and the other inspectors general, saying ‘these rogue, partisan bureaucrats… have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy.’
In her role, she has had a broad mandate to pursue consumer food safety, conduct audits and investigations.
The USDA has been at the heart of concerns about bird flu, which has spread among cattle and chickens and killed a person in Louisiana.
In 2022, the inspector general’s office launched an investigation of Elon Musk’s brain implant startup Neuralink, which remains ongoing, sources said.
A veteran inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to be escorted out of her office after refusing to accept President Donald Trump ‘s decision to fire her
Musk and Trump developed a close relationship during the presidential campaign, earning the billionaire Tesla founder a role heading up the Department of Government Efficiency.
On Wednesday, Musk insinuated he played a significant role in Trump’s plan to purge the federal workforce.
Fong was among 17 high profile federal workers fired by Trump on Friday in what critics described as a late-night purge.
Speaking to reporters afterwards aboard Air Force One, Trump defended the move saying ‘it’s a very common thing to do.’ He did not say who would be installed in the vacant posts.
Advertisement
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .