Murray Slams Trump Move to Replace Independent Government Watchdog With COVID-19 Investigations Underway

President Trump moves to replace Acting HHS Inspector General after agency looks into supply shortages, announces investigation on testing rollout issues

Murray: “We all know the President hasn’t told people the truth about this virus or his Administration’s response, and late last night, he moved to replace an independent government official who did.”

(Washington, D.C.) –  Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s announcement of a new nominee to serve as Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General, a move toward replacing Christi Grimm, the Department’s current Acting Inspector General who has been conducting oversight of the Trump Administration’s COVID-19 response efforts. President Trump has previously lashed out at Acting Inspector General Grimm for a report that found that hospitals across the country lacked critical supplies to handle COVID-19. Under Grimm’s leadership, the Office of the Inspector General also recently announced it was looking into the Trump Administration’s issues in rolling out testing kits as well, at Senator Murray’s request.

“After attacking her on Twitter, the President is now moving to replace the respected independent government watchdog leading investigations into why we were so unprepared and slow to respond to this virus, which has left families nationwide mourning tens of thousands of lives and struggling to make rent or put food on the table.

“We all know the President hasn’t told people the truth about this virus or his Administration’s response, and late last night, he moved to replace an independent government official who did. The President cannot be above oversight, no matter how he denies, attacks, and fights against it. His nominee must not get through the Senate without ironclad commitments to continue, without any political interference, the investigations that are currently underway. Anyone who demands less will be complicit in the President’s clear pattern of retaliation against those who tell the truth.”

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