An inspector general who was fired by President Donald Trump last week was reportedly escorted from her office by security after she refused to accept that she had been lawfully terminated from her job.
Reuters reports that United States Department of Agriculture inspector general Phyllis Fong, who had worked at the department for more than two decades, showed up to work on Monday and insisted that she was staying despite Trump's declaration last week that she and a dozen other inspectors general would be fired.
The law requires the executive branch to give Congress a 30-day notice if it intends to terminate inspectors general, which has led many legal observers to conclude that Trump violated the law when he moved to purge independent watchdogs from the federal government.
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Fong sent an email to her colleagues over the weekend announcing her intention to stay on the job and she cited the opinion of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency that "these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time."
The purge of the inspectors general was so abrupt that even Trump allies such as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are demanding answers while also insisting that the president start complying with the law.
