House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on President Trump to provide additional information about the decision to fire State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.
Her message comes hours after the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee suggested that the firing could be linked to an investigation into Mr. Trump’s emergency declaration to push a controversial weapons deal with Saudi Arabia last year.
“This removal is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity of the Inspectors General and therefore our government,” Ms. Pelosi, California Democrat, said in a letter to Mr. Trump.
The president on Friday evening announced the firing of Mr. Linick, marking the latest of several federal officials tasked with conducting oversight on various government agencies to be pushed out by the president in recent weeks. The moves have prompted concerns from Democrats that he’s attempting to dodge accountability.
Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel, New York Democrat, tweeted Monday that he has “learned that there may be another reason for Mr. Linick’s firing. His office was investigating — at my request — Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia.”
“We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that [Secretary] Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed,” Mr. Engel continued.
Republicans and Democrats in both chambers on Capitol Hill last summer issued a strong rebuke of Mr. Trump’s national security emergency declaration in an effort to push the sales through.
Citing heightened threats from Iran, the administration at the time said that funneling arms to regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was vital to keeping Iran and its proxies in check, while lawmakers argued that the multi-billion dollar deals require congressional approval.
“It is alarming to see news reports that your action may have been in response to Inspector General Linick nearing completion of an investigation into the approval of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia,” Ms. Pelosi said.
She asked the administration to provide Congress with “clear and substantial cause for an Inspector General’s removal” within the next 30 days.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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