What Federal Law Is Trump’s Friday Night Massacre Supposed To Have Violated?

Media outlets have been reporting that President Donald Trump “appears to have violated” federal law with his Friday Night Massacre-style firing spree — but what law is he supposed to have violated?

Trump conducted a late-night purge Friday of at least 17 inspectors general, federal watchdogs who are protected by a law requiring notice and a clear rationale for their removal by a president — which Trump did not provide.

The firings were the subject of intense scrutiny over the weekend, with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream asking a guest if this amounts to “President Trump signaling he’s just going to, you know, observe which laws he wants to, not others.”

And on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) casually admitted Trump broke the law, but only “technically.”

The law they’re referring to is USC Title 5 Section 403(B), which was amended in 2022 to read:

If the President places an Inspector General on non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses of Congress (including to the appropriate congressional committees) not later than 15 days before the date on which the change in status takes effect, except that the President may submit that communication not later than the date on which the change in status takes effect if–

“(i) the President has made a determination that:

the continued presence of the Inspector General in the workplace poses a threat described in any of clauses (i) through (iv) of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code; and

“(ii) <> in the communication, the President includes a report on the determination described in clause (i), which shall include–

“(I) <> a specification of which clause of section 6329b(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, the President has determined applies under clause (i) of this subparagraph;

“(II) the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, for the determination made under clause (i);

“(III) an identification of each entity that is conducting, or that conducted, any inquiry upon which the determination under clause (i) was made; and

“(IV) in the case of an inquiry described in subclause (III) that is completed, the findings made during that inquiry

By failing to provide notice or a “substantive rationale” in writing to Congress, Trump appears to have violated this law — which passed the House and the Senate unanimously.

The full text of the law provides for conditions under which an IG can be removed without prior notice — but there is no evidence so far that they have been met.

Watch above via Fox News Channel’s Fox News Sunday.

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