Trump replaces watchdog who was overseeing $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus spending
April 7, 2020 / Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
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 wasgiven 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.
