Coronavirus Response: Trump Fires Inspector General In Charge Of Stimulus Oversight

President Trump on Tuesday removed an official in charge of overseeing the $2 trillion economic rescue package intended to help businesses and individuals affected by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Glenn Fire, the acting inspector general for the Defense Department, was the chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. The group is charged with preventing "waste, fraud, and abuse" of the relief money.

“Mr. Fine is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee," Dwrena Allen, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon inspector general’s office said. Fine will return to his post as principal deputy inspector general of the Pentagon.

Trump has made several attacks on federal oversight officials in recent days. Late Friday, he fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community. Atkinson had handled the whistleblower complaint that had led to Trump's impeachment trial. Trump had called Atkinson a “disgrace.”

“I thought [Atkinson] did a terrible job, absolutely terrible,” Trump said Saturday at a White House press briefing. “He took a fake report and he took it to Congress with an emergency. O.K.? Not a big Trump fan, that I can tell you.”

“We should all be deeply disturbed by ongoing attempts to politicize the nation’s intelligence agencies,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in response to Atkinson's firing. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Atkinson’s removal “was not warranted, while Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said an inspector general “must be allowed to conduct his or her work independent of internal or external pressure.”

Trump has also been harshly criticizing Principal Deputy Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm after the watchdog released a report that revealed supply shortages and testing delays at hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak. Grimm was appointed to the position in January.

"It's just wrong," Trump said a press briefing Monday, referring to the report. "It still could be her opinion. When was she appointed? Do me a favor and let me know. Let me know now. I have to know."

Trump has frequently been criticized for his response to the outbreak and for downplaying the virus.

As of Tuesday at 3:50 p.m. ET, there are at least 383,256 cases of coronavirus and 12,021 deaths in the U.S.