“Mitt Romney calls Trump’s IG firings ‘a threat to accountable democracy'”, CNN International
By Kelly Mena, May 16, 2020
Washington, DC (CNN)Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Saturday denounced President Donald Trump’s firings of internal government oversight officials, calling it a “threat to accountable democracy.”
Romney’s comments came in response to Trump’s Friday firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake of the President’s acquittal on two articles of impeachment earlier this year.
“The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented; doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose. It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of power,” the Utah Republican tweeted.
Romney is the only Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump of abuse of power earlier this year.
Linick’s dismissal drew immediate condemnation from top Democrats who accused the President of engaging in a pattern of retaliation against public servants charged with oversight of his administration. Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, called it “another Friday night massacre” on CNN Saturday night after announcing earlier in the day that he and his House counterpart, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, had launched a probe into the firing.
The letter that announced Linick’s firing, first reported by Politico, stated that the dismissal will take effect in 30 days unless members of Congress intervene to pressure or convince the President to reverse course.
Though Republicans have been mostly quiet about the firing, earlier in the day, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, a longtime proponent of inspectors general, expressed some concern about Trump’s rationale for firing Linick.
“As I’ve said before, Congress requires written reasons justifying an IG’s removal. A general lack of confidence simply is not sufficient detail to satisfy Congress,” Grassley said in a statement.
Late Saturday night, Maine Sen. Susan Collins also responded to the firing in a series of tweets that suggested Linick’s dismissal didn’t meet the standard required by law.
“The President has not provided the kind of justification for the removal of IG Linick required by this law,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, referencing a law she co-authored in 2008, as part of a Twitter thread.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Zachary Cohen and Manu Raju contributed to this story.
- “Trump Has Made the Epstein Saga a Case Study in Manipulation”, The New York Times
- “SA likely to support UN General Assembly resolution demanding Russia return abducted Ukrainian children”, The Daily Maverick
- “Honduran Drug Kingpin and Former President Walks Free After Trump Pardon”, National Review
- “Pete Hegseth’s Caribbean lawlessness”, The Washington Post
- “Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now”, The Atlantic
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017