Federal Inspectors-General is supposed to be independent watchdogs of federal agencies, and while former President Donald Trump last spring purged numerous inspectors-generals on vague pretense, President Biden must decide whether to further break the norms by trumpeting Trump’s choices. fire and it by replacing officials, confirmed in the usual way, The New York Times reports. The biggest dilemmas are Eric Soskin, the inspector general of the Department of Transportation, and Brian Miller, a former Trump White House lawyer who was appointed earlier in 2020 to seek abuse in spending pandemics.
“Almost every inspector general since Congress created the independent positions against corruption in 1978 has been unanimously or through suffrage confirmed without recorded opposition,” but only one Democrat voted for Miller, the Times reports. Along with the objections that he was too close to Trump, Miller launched an investigation in the first eight months because he apparently did little, although he submitted a report to Congress on Monday outlining investigative work. “I try to be dual and non-partisan – certainly as an inspector general and in everything I do,” Miller told the Times.
Meanwhile, Soskin’s office is investigating whether Trump’s secretary of transportation, Elaine Chao, improperly sent federal grants to Kentucky to aid the re-election of her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). In December, McConnell, the then-majority leader, used his power to prioritize Soskin’s confirmation over four other inspector-generals before him, the Times reports, and ensures that a Republican appointment will control the office as soon as Biden takes office. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, gave McConnell the move the time.
Oh, I should have also mentioned that the alleged offense involves the Sec of Transportation trying to help her husband McConnell, yes, the same person who is trying to push through the confirmation today.
– Danielle Brian (@daniellebrian) 18 December 2020
It cost McConnell two tries, but on December 21, he finally had Soskin confirmed 48-47, the first party vote ever for an inspector general. Despite the apparent conflict of interest, Brian said the removal of Soskin and other Trump-appointed inspectors general “would essentially exacerbate the problems he created in the first place.”
Soskin declined to comment through a spokesman on the status of his office’s Chao-McConnell investigation. A McConnell spokesman pointed to a 2019 statement in which McConnell openly indicated his ability to donate federal dollars to Kentucky.
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Originally published