Security Escorts USDA Inspector General Out Of Building For Refusing To Leave After Being Fired

Security officers escorted U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis Fong out of her office this week after she refused to leave following her termination by President Donald Trump.

Reuters reported that the incident happened on Monday after Fong, who served in the department for 22 years, told colleagues that she intended to stay after being fired.

She reportedly claimed that the administration did not follow the proper protocols in firing her, the report said.

In an email, she claimed that the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency “has taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time.”

Trump fired 18 inspectors general across the U.S. government last week, which triggered opponents who claimed that he did not follow the law in doing so because he did not give Congress advance notice.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, defended Trump’s decision over the weekend.

“Time and time again, the Supreme Court has said that Congress can’t impose restrictions on the president’s power to remove officers,” Cotton said. “In President Trump’s first term, he removed the Director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau despite limitations on the President’s constitutional power to remove officers, that was litigated at the Supreme Court and the president won.”

“So ultimately, these inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the President,” he added. “He wants new people in there. He wants people who focused on getting out waste and fraud and abuse and reforming these agencies, he has a right to have to get in there who he wants.”