According to a report on Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" website on January 25th, U.S. insiders revealed that U.S. President Trump fired 17 independent inspectors general from multiple government agencies, paving the way to replace them with loyal personnel.

The report quoted Reuters as saying that the inspectors general of various agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense and Transportation, received immediate dismissal notices via email from the White House personnel director.

The report pointed out that the dismissal appeared to violate federal law, which requires the president to explain the reasons for the dismissal to the House and Senate 30 days in advance.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The inspector general is an independent position responsible for auditing and investigating allegations of waste, fraud and abuse of power, the report said.

The report pointed out that federal agencies are stepping up implementation of the executive order issued by Trump after taking office on January 20th, reshaping federal bureaucracy by canceling diversity programs, withdrawing job offers, and sidelining more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials.

The report also quoted the New York Times as saying that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and others were spared. The Washington Post, which first reported the news of the dismissals, said that most of them were appointed by Trump during his first term from 2017 to 2021.

According to the report, Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called Trump’s actions a “midnight purge of independent oversight agencies” and posted on X: “President Trump is removing constraints on his power, paving the way for widespread corruption.”

During his first term, Trump fired five inspectors general in less than two months, including the State Department inspector general. The State Department’s inspector general played a role in the president’s impeachment proceedings.