Inspector General

An inspector general is a watchdog position in the United States government, whereby the inspector general is supposed to monitor activities at an assigned federal agency.

Typically an inspector general looks for waste, misconduct, fraud and abuse, and attempts to eradicate it while promoting efficiency and economy in the federal agency to which he is assigned.

Draining the swamp

In January 2025, among President Donald J. Trump's first acts as president, President Trump fired more than a dozen inspector generals. The Washington Post reported "Oversight of some of the government’s largest agencies was affected: the Departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration".