USDA inspector general escorted out of her office after defying White House

WASHINGTON - Security agents escorted the inspector general of the US Department of Agriculture out of her office on Monday (Jan 27) after she refused to comply with her firing by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, had earlier told colleagues that she intended to stay after the White House terminated her Friday, saying that she didn't believe the administration had followed proper protocols, the sources said.

In an email to colleagues on Saturday, reviewed by Reuters, she said the independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency "has taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time."

Fong declined to comment and the Office of the Inspector General did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

After this article was published, a USDA spokesperson said Fong left the office Monday on her own accord.

"She was accompanied by two friends who she paused to take selfies with on her way out. Security officials did not play any role in her departure," the spokesperson said.

The White House defended the firing of Fong and the other inspectors general, saying "these rogue, partisan bureaucrats... have been relieved of their duties in order to make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy."

The USDA inspector general has a broad mandate, pursuing consumer food safety, audits and investigations of the Agriculture Department as well as violations of animal welfare laws. The USDA has been at the heart of concerns about bird flu, which has spread among cattle and chickens and killed a person in Louisiana.

In 2022, the inspector general's office launched an investigation of Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink, which remains ongoing, sources said. In recent years, the office has also taken on animal abuse at dog breeders for research labs and the listeria outbreak at Boar's Head, among other issues.

Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help President Donald Trump get elected in November and has emerged as a key player in the president's orbit.

Fong was among the 17 federal watchdogs fired by Trump on Friday in what critics described as a Friday-night purge. Speaking to reporters afterwards aboard Air Force One, Trump defended the move saying "it's a very common thing to do." He did not say who would be installed in the vacant posts.

The dismissals, handed out less than a week after Trump took office for his second term, appeared to violate federal law, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency said in a letter to the White House on Friday.

Fong served as the first chairperson of Cigie from 2008 through 2014, according to her biography on USDA's website.

In response to the Reuters story, Senator Mazie Hirono criticised Trump's firing of the watchdogs.

"Egg prices are soaring. Bird flu is out of control. USDA should be fixing this problem. Instead, Trump is stacking the federal government with yes-men. He doesn't care about your grocery prices," she wrote on X.

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