Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Ousted inspectors general at DOL, other agencies file suit, (Feb 12, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:U.S. Department of Labor
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
The eight former IGs were nonpartisan officials whose firings, they allege, “violated unambiguous federal statutes” intended to protect them from such interference.
Earlier today, the former Inspectors General at eight major U.S. agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Agriculture, and Education, along with the Small Business Administration, filed suit against President Trump and the heads of those various agencies alleging multiple violations of the law stemming from their summary, emailed terminations based on “changing priorities.”
They contend that their terminations violate the Inspector General Act, 5 U.S.C. § 403(b), constitute ultra vires government action under common law, and, in the absence of other relief, that they are entitled to a writ of mandamus compelling the defendants not to obstruct with their exercise of duties.
No notice, no case-specific rationale. IGs, they allege, are nonpartisan officials who serve as independent watchdogs to ensure effective and efficient operation of government. Federal law requires that they be appointed without regard to political affiliation and, under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended by the Securing Inspector General Independence Act, in order to remove an IG, the President must notify Congress about the planned removal at least 30 days in advance and must also provide a substantive, case-specific rationale for termination. In the case of these IGs, they allege, neither condition was satisfied.
Larry Turner, who held the role of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, had served as Acting IG during Trump’s first administration and assumed the official role in 2021.
The lawsuit was filed in D.C. federal court; the case is No. 1:25-cv-00415.
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