Trump replaces watchdog who was overseeing $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus spending

Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
·3 min read

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump replaced acting Pentagon Inspector General Glenn Fine Monday night, a move that removes Fine as the top watchdog for COVID-19 stimulus.

Fine had been selected by fellow inspectors general to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. The inspectors general created the committee to oversee the roughly $2 trillion stimulus deal, passed last month by Congress and signed into law by Trump to mitigate the economic damage caused by the pandemic.

The committee chairman was given the power to issue subpoenas and investigate officials inside and out of government.

Trump signaled his displeasure with the law's oversight provision when he issued a relatively rare signing statement. Trump said he would ignore portions of the law demanded by some Democrats to give Congress additional visibility into the stimulus spending, arguing that those requirements would infringe on the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

"Yesterday, the president nominated Mr. Jason Abend for the position of DoD inspector general," Dwrena Allen, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon inspector general, said Tuesday. "The same day, the president also designated Mr. Sean W. O'Donnell, who is the Environmental Protection Agency inspector general, to serve as the acting DoD IG in addition to his current duties at the EPA.

Glenn Fine "is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee," a spokeswoman for the Pentagon inspector general said.
Glenn Fine "is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee," a spokeswoman for the Pentagon inspector general said.

"Mr. Fine is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee."

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the Oversight and Reform Committee, said that by removing Fine and other watchdogs, Trump seeks to undermine oversight of the White House's "chaotic" response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“President Trump’s actions are a direct insult to the American taxpayers – of all political stripes – who want to make sure that their tax dollars are not squandered on wasteful boondoggles, incompetence or political favors," Maloney said in a statement.

Fine will take a secondary job at the Pentagon.

Fine had been acting inspector general at the Pentagon since 2016. In his previous role as inspector general for the Justice Department from 2000 to 2011, he received high marks from Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

She said Tuesday that Fine was removed probably to ensure he would not oversee stimulus spending.

"There's no question in my mind that the president's sudden interest in filling this vacancy is to undercut Fine's role running the pandemic recovery," Brian said.

President Trump signs the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief stimulus bill.
President Trump signs the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief stimulus bill.

Last Friday, Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general who informed Congress about an anonymous whistleblower complaint that described Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden. The complaint led to Trump’s impeachment, though he was acquitted in the Senate.

Trump, Bryan said, "is taking a wrecking ball across the IG community."

Trump blasted a report Monday from the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general on problems facing hospitals dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that cited a shortage of tests and long wait times. When asked about the findings, Trump declared them "wrong," asked for the inspector general's name and suggested the conclusions were tainted by politics.

Fine will take up his old post as principal deputy inspector general at the Pentagon, Allen said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Trump replaces watchdog overseeing spending of stimulus