Harry Litman - The 'Friday Night Purge' of Inspectors General
The scandal already has a name: the “Friday Night Purge.” The episode in which the Trump administration fired at least 17 inspectors general from various executive agencies, in a curt email sent after work hours, caps the most bruising week for American constitutional rule in at least 100 years.
If that instills a sense of panic, it’s not a bad thing; one of the worrying aspects of the past week is the relative absence of outrage and pushback, certainly in Congress and in the American electorate as a whole.
And if it sounds as if I’m overreacting, you don’t have to take my word for it. Look to any of dozens of commentators on both sides of the aisle whom you have learned to trust in the last several years and who have spent the last three days breaking glass and sounding the alarm. These include the three great guests in this morning’s Talking Feds podcast – Susan Glasser, David Jolly, and Bill Kristol – and my many new colleagues at the Contrarian, where I’m a founding contributor.
But there are many more who are repeating the point. And among government alumni, who understand with some nuance what Trump is doing, the distress is particularly keen.
https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/the-friday-night-purge-of-inspectors
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