Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley puts hold on Trump nominees in clash over firing of two watchdogs
WASHINGTON – A top Senate Republican said Thursday he would block two of President Donald Trump's high-level nominees until the White House gave him a legitimate reason for firing two federal watchdogs.
By preventing a vote on the nominees, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, significantly escalated his feud with Trump over the president's decision to remove Steve Linick, the State Department's inspector general, and Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community.
IGs are charged with ferreting out corruption, waste and fraud inside federal agencies. Democrats in Congress are investigating Linick's ouster. So far, Grassley – usually a staunch Trump ally – is the only Republican publicly demanding an accounting.
The Iowa Republican slammed the White House last week for failing to justify the Linick and Atkinson firings, suggesting the vague rationale would fuel speculation that "political" motivations are at play. Grassley noted the White House is required by law to provide Congress with a rationale for such removals.
"All I want is a reason 4 firing these (people)," Grassley tweeted on Thursday. "CHECKS&BALANCES."
Im placing holds on 2 Trump Admin noms until I get reasons 4firing 2 agency watchdogs as required by law Not 1st time ive raised alarm when admins flout IG protection law Obama did same& got same earfull from me All I want is a reason 4 firing these ppl CHECKS&BALANCES
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 4, 2020
Grassley's spokesman said the two nominees he will block are Christopher C. Miller, who Trump tapped to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Marshall Billingslea, nominated to be undersecretary of State for arms control and international security.
Trump notified lawmakers on May 15 that he was going to fire Linick; Trump later said he did so at the urging of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Earlier this year, the president also removed Atkinson, who had informed congressional leaders about a whistleblower complaint that led to the president's impeachment.
In a May 26 letter to Grassley, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone asserted Trump's "constitutional right" to remove the two inspector generals. Grassley said that explanation was not adequate.
"Without sufficient explanation, it’s fair to question the president’s rationale for removing an inspector general," Grassley said in a statement last week.
Democrats have accused Pompeo of pushing for Linick's removal to shield himself from scrutiny.
Linick's office is investigating two highly contentious matters that touch directly on Pompeo's actions: allegations that he used a State Department employee to run personal errands for himself and his wife, and questions about the State Department's decision to greenlight a highly controversial $8 billion weapons sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Pompeo has defended his push for Linick's ouster.
"All we’ve done is simply make sure that in respect to the inspector general that we had an inspector general that was working towards the mission of the United States Department of State and the foreign policy of Donald Trump," he said Sunday during an interview with Fox News.
On Wednesday, Linick testified behind closed doors before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Oversight panel as part of their probe into his removal.
In a statement after the session, Democrats said Linick told them that a top adviser to Pompeo tried to interfere with the probe into the Saudi weapons sale.
"Mr. Linick testified that Mr. Bulatao pressured him to act in ways that Mr. Linick felt were inappropriate – including Bulatao telling Linick that the investigation into weapons sales to Saudi Arabia was not a matter for the IG to investigate," Democrats said in a statement after Linick's closed-door testimony.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chuck Grassley blocked two Trump nominees in clash over watchdogs
