The Trump administration fired the U.S. Agency for International Development’s inspector general on Tuesday, a day after he released a report criticizing the foreign aid freeze, according to a USAID official and a former State Department official.
Paul Martin is the latest of approximately 20 inspectors general that President Donald Trump has removed, despite objections from lawmakers and watchdogs that his methods of removal violate statutes.
A White House official informed Martin in an early Tuesday evening email, which POLITICO obtained, that his position had been “terminated, effective immediately.”
Martin’s dismissal comes after his office released a report on Monday claiming that the Trump administration’s recent spending freeze on foreign aid, as well as efforts to reduce USAID staffing, made it more difficult to ensure billions of dollars in US funding were spent properly.
The USAID official and former State Department official were given anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter. CNN had previously reported the firing.
Requests for comment were not immediately responded to by spokespersons for the State Department, USAID, the National Security Council, or the USAID inspector general.
Inspectors general run offices that investigate government activities and spending, as a form of oversight intended to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
