Under President Trump, the government’s watchdogs are losing their independence

Inspectors general have long touted their independence from partisan politics, maintaining a strict firewall between themselves and the White House appointees whose activities they are supposed to check. But now, over a year into the new Trump administration, political figures and the White House have sought greater influence over government watchdogs than ever before, leading to concerns about the independence of the oversight community. After firing inspectors general at 19 agencies in an unprecedented purge in the early days of his second term, President Donald Trump has spent the past year nominating several new inspectors general with partisan backgrounds. Investigators, auditors and others were lost in widespread staffing cuts. And political appointees have increasingly gained new powers over the apparatus that is designed to independently operate in order to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Veterans Affairs Inspector General Cheryl Mason, one of Trump’s picks with a partisan past, is set to win an uncontested vote for the lead position at the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the umbrella organization that provides training, peer reviews and cross-agency oversight work for inspectors general. CIGIE was nearly defunded in 2025 before the Office of Management and Budget agreed to continue funding it at the request of Congress.