Boozman: Agriculture watchdog could do a better job

By Marc Heller | 01/30/2025 06:30 AM EST

USDA and other agencies need closer oversight as the Trump administration purges inspectors general, Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman says.

Phyllis Fong during a hearing.

Then-Agriculture Department Inspector General Phyllis Fong during a hearing on Capitol Hill in 2019. House Appropriations Committee

Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman said he sees room for improvement at the Agriculture Department’s internal watchdog office, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s firing of longtime Inspector General Phyllis Fong.

Fong, who served in the Senate-confirmed job for 22 years, was among more than a dozen inspectors general dismissed Jan. 24 in a purge that ignored a requirement to notify Congress 30 days in advance.

“I think they could do a better job,” Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, told POLITICO’s E&E News, adding that increased spending since the Covid-19 pandemic demands closer accountability across federal offices.

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The nighttime firings — which came in the form of emails to those affected — hit officials Trump had hired in his first term as well as longer-serving watchdogs such as Fong, appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2002.

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