Wednesday, February 12, 2025 - President Donald Trump of the United States on Wednesday fired the independent Inspector General for the US Agency for International Development, USAID, Paul Martin.
According to the Washington Post and CNN, this is coming a day after
Martin’s office issued a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts
to dismantle the agency.
The media outlets cited a two-sentence email from the White House sent
on Tuesday to Martin telling him that his position was terminated, effective
immediately, but with no explanation of the reasons for the decision.
His office’s report had warned that more than $489 million in food
assistance was at risk of spoilage or potential diversion after the Trump
administration implemented an aid freeze and stop-work order.
According to the report, it had long identified significant challenges
and offered recommendations to improve Agency programming to prevent fraud,
waste, and abuse.
“However, recent widespread staffing reductions across the Agency…
coupled with uncertainty about the scope of foreign assistance waivers and
permissible communications with implementers, has degraded USAID’s ability to
distribute and safeguard taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance,” the report
had said.
Trump had already sacked 18 inspectors general, who are independent
watchdogs of the federal government, but Martin, appointed by Trump’s
predecessor Joe Biden had remained in place.
Trump, who began his second term last month, has launched a crusade led
by his top donor Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to downsize or dismantle
swaths of the US government.
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