Trump Removes State Department Inspector General Steve Linick – By Michele Kelemen (NPR) / May 16 2020
President Trump is ousting State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, extending a string of administration firings of government watchdogs.
The president sent notice of Linick’s removal, effective in 30 days, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday. A State Department spokesperson offered no reason for the change but issued a statement confirming that Linick will be replaced by Ambassador Stephen Akard, who currently directs the department’s Office of Foreign Missions.
A White House official speaking on background Saturday said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recommended the move, “and President Trump agreed.”
In a statement late Friday, Pelosi warned of a “dangerous pattern of retaliation against patriotic public servants.”
Linick had been on the job since 2013 and had recently issued reports criticizing some Trump appointees of retaliating against career public servants.
Continue to article: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/16/857334790/president-trump-removes-state-department-inspector-general-steve-linick
