'Co-opted the umpire': Trump watchdogs spend big on private bathrooms and fancy flags

When the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general was slated to relocate offices last year, the move stalled for months — by an en-suite bathroom.

Three people familiar with the matter told NOTUS Friday that inspector general Cheryl Mason wanted her own private bathroom, citing security concerns for a role in which, she said, "people are at their most vulnerable moment."

Mason denied requesting the bathroom, telling NOTUS that Senate-confirmed appointees are legally required to have one.

Her spokesperson declined to identify that law, and the General Services Administration said it could point to no such requirement, but a separate law caps renovation budgets for presidential appointees at $5,000 – likely far short of what a new bathroom would cost.

The episode is one of several unusual demands from Trump-installed inspectors general that current and former staff say reflect a broader erosion of watchdog independence across the federal government.

Mason, a former senior adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins, has also eliminated public alerts on urgent concerns, delayed reports on electronic health records modernization, limited discussion of staffing shortages, and cut sections critical of the VA's physician shortages from final reports, according to interviews and draft documents reviewed by NOTUS.

She commissioned a personal flag, comparing her position to that of a four-star general, at a cost exceeding $1,000, one employee said.

“There,” Mason told NOTUS during a video call. “Take a look at that flag.”

Similar episodes are emerging elsewhere under President Donald Trump's leadership.

Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito, a former Republican congressman, fired the career staffer overseeing a probe into his predecessor's Cabinet secretary shortly after taking office, and he has since praised Trump publicly and campaigned alongside him in New York.

At HUD, acting Inspector General Brian Harrison told staff the office should function as "the strong right arm of the secretary, not a distant entity."

Since Trump fired nearly 20 inspectors general at the start of his second term, oversight output has fallen sharply. Audits are down 15 percent and investigative reports a quarter, according to the Partnership for Public Service, with staffing down nearly 20 percent.

Former inspector generals describe the shift as a fundamental break from decades of post-Watergate norms.

"We're not supposed to use the office to support one side or the other," said Mark Greenblatt, a former Interior Department IG fired by Trump. "You've co-opted the umpire and made them part of your team."

The White House defended the appointments, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers calling Trump's picks "highly-qualified and accomplished individuals" restoring "integrity and transparency" to government.