USDA inspector general escorted from office after defying Trump dismissal

The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Phyllis Fong, was escorted out of her office on Monday after she refused to leave following her dismissal by President Donald Trump.

Fong told colleagues that Trump’s termination orders “do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time.”

The White House said in a statement about the firings, “These rogue, partisan bureaucrats who have weaponized the justice system against their political enemies are no longer fit or deserve to serve in their appointed positions, and they have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy."

Trump fired a total of 17 inspectors general, but the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) chairman, Hannibal Ware, questioned on Friday whether Trump had "substantive rationale" to fire them.

Ware said in a letter that a president is required to notify Congress of an inspector general's firing 30 days in advance, which Trump did not do.

“I don’t know them, but some people thought that some were unfair or were not doing the job. It’s a very standard thing to do,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that "not all of them" were removed.