{"id":2858,"date":"2026-08-21T16:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:43:17","slug":"from-watchdogs-to-lapdogs-inside-the-trumpification-of-agencies-inspectors-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858","title":{"rendered":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Veterans Affairs Department\u2019s internal watchdog was set to relocate to a different Washington office space last year. That was until the inspector general decided she needed her own bathroom.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2856\">Second Attempt to Put Trump\u2019s Name on Kennedy Center Faces Court Challenge<\/a><\/p><p>Cheryl Mason, who served as VA Secretary Doug Collins\u2019 senior adviser before President Donald Trump fired the existing IG and tapped her to replace him, held up the move for months, citing the need for a personal lavatory in her office, three people familiar with the matter told NOTUS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says that\u2019s when people are at their most vulnerable moment,\u201d and the lack of an en suite bathroom presented security concerns, an IG employee said. \u201cThey\u2019re having to redesign the whole space.\u201d<\/p><p>It\u2019s the kind of potentially pricey request that government watchdogs typically investigate \u2014 and have in the past, like with former Housing Secretary Ben Carson\u2019s office renovations <span><u>in Trump\u2019s first term<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n<section>\n<div>\n<h2>\n<span>Trending<\/span>\n<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"james_river_valley_link_transmission_crossing_seven_islands_fluvanna_county_5-1-26_credit_hugh_kenny_pec-6.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-2836\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><h3>\n<span>\n<u>Dana Milbank:<\/u> Data Centers Are Destroying Virginia\u2019s Countryside \u2014 Even in Places That Have No Data Centers\n                    <\/span>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Election 2026 Michigan\" class=\"wp-image-2852\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3001ef918e93464e87d93b9c9d5bb458-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3001ef918e93464e87d93b9c9d5bb458-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3001ef918e93464e87d93b9c9d5bb458-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3001ef918e93464e87d93b9c9d5bb458.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><h3>\n<span>\n                      Mike Rogers\u2019 Pitch to Jewish Democrats May Be Falling Flat\n                    <\/span>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A lone LGBT Trump supporter outside New York City Hall.\" class=\"wp-image-2855\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/67dff99a52d3d4dda7dbe6b6ca16ace0-768x576.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/67dff99a52d3d4dda7dbe6b6ca16ace0-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/67dff99a52d3d4dda7dbe6b6ca16ace0-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/67dff99a52d3d4dda7dbe6b6ca16ace0.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><h3>\n<span>\n                      Log Cabin Republicans Officially Drop the \u2018T\u2019 From LGBT\n                    <\/span>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico speaks at a rally\" class=\"wp-image-2843\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/648947a43fd81ebe588bed544c6654c8-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/648947a43fd81ebe588bed544c6654c8-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/648947a43fd81ebe588bed544c6654c8-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/648947a43fd81ebe588bed544c6654c8.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><h3>\n<span>\n                      Democrats Need Third-Party Help to Win Senate Majority\n                    <\/span>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The once-independent system that Congress established after Watergate has radically transformed in Trump\u2019s second term. Trump\u2019s unprecedented firing of nearly 20 inspectors general has unraveled the firewalls government\u2019s ombudsmen have operated under for decades. The new watchdogs are erasing the lines between agency leadership and their own watchdog offices, Office of Inspector General employees told NOTUS, openly suggesting they should work hand-in-glove with the Trump administration to advance its goals.<\/p><p>\u201cAll the adults have left the room,\u201d one senior OIG official said. \u201cAll these new IGs are lining up behind political leadership as if they\u2019re lapdogs.\u201d<\/p><p>Trump has installed former political appointees from the same agencies they\u2019re now overseeing, a co-author of Project 2025, and a Republican congressman into watchdog roles across the government. Those IGs have boosted the president and his appointees in ways that directly contravene the statutory independence of their offices, 11 current and former staffers told NOTUS.<\/p><p>Some offices are operating without a Senate-confirmed head, including the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and USAID, all agencies where Trump fired former watchdogs early in his second term. There\u2019s less oversight happening. Cabinet department OIGs issued 15% fewer audits and a quarter fewer investigative reports on average in the first half of this fiscal year compared to the same time period in every year from 2020 to 2024, according to the nonpartisan <span><u>nonprofit<\/u><\/span> Partnership for Public Service. These offices are down in staffing by nearly 20% on average.<\/p>\n<p>As staff head for the exits across watchdog offices, those left are often operating within a culture of fear.<\/p><p>They\u2019re \u201cscared to death to do anything, so for the most part they\u2019re just sitting on their hands trying to lay low,\u201d the senior OIG official said of acting career officials.<\/p><p>At the VA, Mason has boasted about her personal relationship to the secretary at virtually every meeting, four people familiar with her approach said. She heeded Collins\u2019 requests on the timing and focus of some reportsand repeatedly overruled career staff on final publications.<\/p><p>Mason denied requesting a bathroom in her new office, saying that all Senate-confirmed presidential appointees were required by law to have one. Through a spokesperson, she declined to say what law she was referring to and suggested NOTUS ask the General Services Administration. GSA was unable to point to any such law. There is a law that caps presidential appointees\u2019 office renovation budgets to $5,000 \u2014 almost certainly too little to build a new bathroom.<\/p><p>***<\/p><p>Mason has leveraged her close ties to department leadership to make demands of staff.<\/p><p>After VA Secretary Collins\u2019 office told the IG that preliminary alerts issued publicly by the watchdog on particularly alarming concerns were distracting senior staff, Mason eliminated them altogether, according to two people familiar with the edict. In an interview with NOTUS, Mason confirmed the change, saying the alerts were burdensome and not impactful.<\/p>\n<p>She delayed reports on the modernization of electronic health records \u2014 a decades-long issue at VA \u2014 and limited discussion of staffing shortages in the office\u2019s releases, again citing demands from the department. Mason told NOTUS her office was waiting for a clearer outline on the department\u2019s workforce goals before raising any concerns about staffing cuts. VA medical staff who raised concerns about staffing shortages were merely presenting their \u201cperception,\u201d Mason said, and including those thoughts amounted to \u201chearsay.\u201d<\/p><p>In at least one case, Mason struck entire sections from reports before they went public, according to draft copies provided to NOTUS. Those sections were about how the VA\u2019s loss of primary care physicians impacted the overall system and were not included in  Employees said the issue was flagged to them by staff during their investigation and should have been included, though Mason told them it was not within the scope of the report.<\/p><p>Mason has prevented staff from conducting the long-standing tradition of briefing Capitol Hill on its forthcoming reports, according to two people familiar with the change, telling employees the change was at Collins\u2019 request. Prior to Mason taking the role, the IG would give a week\u2019s notice to Congress\u2019s veterans committees and proactively offer a briefing on any report that wasn\u2019t routine, a Senate aide said. Now, Mason confirmed to NOTUS, she only provides a brief to the committees as they are releasing a report and only if committee members ask for one.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly challenging to continue doing the work we\u2019re doing,\u201d an employee said, who added that Mason asked if staff could bring items of concern to department leadership without publicly writing about them in reports.<\/p><p>Senior staff within the IG\u2019s office were stunned by Mason\u2019s requests, employees said.<\/p><p>\u201cShe wanted to make sure the message of everything we did was part of every agreement, promise or whatever she had with the secretary,\u201d one employee said. \u201cIf you believe in independent oversight, that\u2019s not what we were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mason said her office has maintained its independence, though she noted she works \u201cfor the president of the United States,\u201d is a part of VA and will continue to \u201cwork with the department.\u201d<\/p><p>She acknowledged that she has changed her office\u2019s approach, including to address issues raised by VA\u2019s leadership. When Collins brings concerns to her, she said, she passes them along to staff but she alone has final decision-making authority.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about \u2018gotcha\u2019 with the department,\u201d Mason said.<\/p><p>She commissioned a flag for herself, telling staff she was serving in the equivalent role of a four-star general and therefore required one. One OIG employee said the flag cost more than $1,000.<\/p><p><b>\u201c<\/b>There,\u201d Mason said, as she showed it to NOTUS over a video call. \u201cTake a look at that flag.\u201d<\/p><p>***<\/p><p>The 1978 Inspector General Act formally established the watchdog offices, and while it housed them within federal agencies and departments, required that they be \u201cindependent and objective.\u201d Under the law, no agency official can prevent the IG from initiating an investigation, conducting its work or issuing a subpoena.<\/p>\n<p>Employees across government said their offices are no longer operating within the parameters of that law.<\/p><p>Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D\u2019Esposito, a former Republican congressman from New York, fired the career staffer who headed investigations in his office almost immediately after taking office, according to two people familiar with the move, which has not been previously reported.<\/p><p>That person had been spearheading a probe into an alleged inappropriate relationship between then-Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer \u2014 a former Republican congresswoman who entered and exited the House with D\u2019Esposito \u2014 and a staffer. Chavez-DeRemer has since stepped down from her post, and the report into her alleged misconduct has yet to come out.<\/p><p>D\u2019Esposito\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p><p>His messaging since his appointment has been unusually intertwined with that of the Trump administration. He has repeatedly <span><u>praised<\/u><\/span> Trump, <span><u>reposts<\/u><\/span> the official accounts of the White House, and <span><u>wished<\/u><\/span> Vice President JD Vance a \u201c#HappyBirthday,\u201d highlighting his leadership of the White House\u2019s anti-fraud effort.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2853\">Log Cabin Republicans Officially Drop the \u201cT\u201d from LGBT<\/a><\/p><p>D\u2019Esposito appeared alongside Trump at a campaign event in Nassau County, New York, last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a clear message to everyone in New York state, Democrat, Republican, independent: You have no choice anymore but to vote Republican, vote Bruce Blakeman, vote every Republican you can find because the Democrats are destroying our state,\u201d D\u2019Esposito told the police academy audience. Blakeman is the Republican candidate running for governor of New York.<\/p><div>\n<\/div><p>Larry Turner, D\u2019Esposito\u2019s predecessor who was fired by Trump, said his successor is \u201cacting as an extension of a Cabinet member.\u201d Turner served in four different IG offices and said he had never seen similar behavior.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s a little dangerous because when you do that, what message does it say to your staff?\u201d Turner said. \u201cIt makes them reluctant to write certain things.\u201d<\/p><p>His former colleagues in the Labor Department\u2019s IG office are trying to keep their heads down and do their jobs, he said, adding it\u2019s now \u201ca completely different environment.\u201d<\/p><p>At the Education Department\u2019s OIG, \u201cnobody wants to speak up about anything,\u201d a current employee told NOTUS. That\u2019s despite what they said were staff concerns about the increasingly blurry relationship between the OIG and the agency.<\/p><p>The office\u2019s deputy assistant inspector general for investigation services, Terry Harris, was moved from that investigative role to lead technology services \u2014 a change that stripped her of her law enforcement status, the Education OIG employee said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s got all the agents worried about doing anything that puts us on anyone\u2019s radar,\u201d they said.<\/p><p>The Education OIG declined to comment on the employee\u2019s concerns.<\/p><p>The pressure to lay low is prevalent across the OIGs. A VA inspector general employee said anybody who gives feedback to Mason is labeled \u201ca resister, and they are totally blackballed.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe president is restoring integrity and transparency to our federal government, which has long been neglected by previous administrations,\u201d White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told NOTUS in a statement, calling Trump\u2019s nominees \u201chighly-qualified and accomplished individuals.\u201d<br\/><\/p><p>***<\/p><p>In a recent joint town hall with Housing and Urban Development staff and workers from its inspector general\u2019s office, acting IG Brian Harrison, a career government employee whom Trump tapped to lead the agency on a temporary basis last August, said Congress envisioned agency watchdogs to serve as \u201cthe strong right arm of the secretary, not a distant entity far, far away.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe independence of the inspector general is intended to lessen friction, not increase friction,\u201d Harrison said, according to a recording obtained by NOTUS. \u201cSomehow, over the years, and I know it to be true that it\u2019s occurred here at HUD, that friction became friction between the IG and friction between the secretary. We don\u2019t do that at HUD OIG.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Typically, watchdogs have gone to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of being political, officials said. Mike Missal, VA\u2019s inspector general until Trump fired him last year, said comments like Harrison\u2019s were antithetical to how he approached his role: \u201cYou never make friends in this job.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re not supposed to use the office to support one side or the other. We are the umpires calling balls and strikes,\u201d Mark Greenblatt, a former inspector general at the Interior Department who was fired by Trump, said. \u201cYou\u2019ve co-opted the umpire and made them part of your team.\u201d<\/p><p>Some Trump-appointed watchdogs have openly touted their collaboration with the administration as part of Trump\u2019s \u201cwar on fraud.\u201d Finding fraud is a core part of the inspector general mission, but the senior OIG official suggested some watchdogs are shattering norms and engaging in \u201cpolitical theater.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThe new IGs, especially, are just going to meetings, standing at podiums, and saying, \u2018We got more people that the Biden administration didn\u2019t care about,\u2019\u201d they said, adding the watchdogs share talking points with White House officials. \u201cYou\u2019re clearly not independent if you\u2019re just repeating the vice president\u2019s quote.\u201d<\/p><p>Even as the administration has boosted its involvement in the work of inspectors general, many IG offices have raised concerns about a lack of cooperation with their home departments.<\/p><p>Education\u2019s previous acting IG Ren\u00e9 Rocque met with Education Secretary Linda McMahon last May to talk about \u201cunreasonable denials and delays\u201d as her office worked to review the massive staffing changes at the department last year. She was replaced shortly after that.<\/p>\n<p>The final Education OIG  includes an entire section on the \u201cscope limitation.\u201d Another  issued this week included a similar caveat, saying the department wouldn\u2019t give the OIG an org chart.<\/p><p>The Department of Homeland Security also delayed and denied requests for information from its watchdog over 20 times across six months last year, at times citing \u201cmanagement preference\u201d for preventing the OIG from having access to the department, its watchdog said.<\/p><p>\u201cOur results have not come easily,\u201d a  from the DHS OIG last year says.<\/p><p>Those challenges are also being felt at the Government Accountability Office, which acts as Congress\u2019 oversight research arm. Staff there are strategizing on how to obtain information from former agency employees or through informal channels, an employee said.<\/p><p>\u201cWe definitely did not start a couple jobs last year because they were not going to go anywhere,\u201d the GAO employee said. NOTUS previously <span><u>reported<\/u><\/span> that some agencies will not comply with GAO inquiries if the probe originated with Democratic members of Congress.<\/p><p>\u201cThere are some conversations about how certain reports will be viewed by the administration,\u201d the employee added. \u201cThere is just extra time on the tone, because of nervousness about it.\u201d<\/p><p>Some oversight officials blamed lawmakers for failing to prevent Trump\u2019s assault on oversight. So far, some Republicans in Congress have pushed to go in the opposite direction: A bill to abolish the centralized OIG Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and move some of its responsibilities to the Office of Management and Budget has been making its way through the House with Republican support.<\/p><p>Current and former staff said they had never before heard the type of language they are now hearing from IGs, and it\u2019s delivering a clear message to oversight staff.<\/p><p>\u201cThese firings \u2014 coupled with the self-censorship being practiced by many IG offices \u2014 has reduced scrutiny of important issues like sole-source contracting and management abuses across the agencies,\u201d said Paul Martin, a former inspector general at USAID and NASA who was fired a day after his office released a report including warnings about the effects of dismantling USAID.<\/p><p>In some cases, employees are no longer publicizing issues that come up during their investigations.<\/p><p>\u201cThere is fear that writing something that is contrary to what the IG wants to put out there will lead to negative consequences,\u201d another current senior official in an inspector general\u2019s office said, adding that the administration has made clear what it wants from the watchdog offices. \u201cPreventing that is exactly why the IGs were created.\u201d<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2847\">As IndyCar Roars Through D.C., Preservationists Raise Alarm<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between canceled reports, deleted pages and mass firings, the government is getting less oversight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agencies"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Between canceled reports, deleted pages and mass firings, the government is getting less oversight.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858\"},\"wordCount\":2569,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Agencies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858\",\"name\":\"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1623,\"caption\":\"FILE - In this May 2, 2012, file photo, Federal agents with the Office of Inspector General load computers seized from Willsand Home Health Agency, Inc. into a van in Miami. Over the past decade, South Florida has become less renowned for \\\"old school\\\" drug shootouts than for scammers stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the government, banks and individuals. South Florida has become the nation's organized fraud capital. (AP Photo\\\/Alan Diaz, File)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=2858#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"Between canceled reports, deleted pages and mass firings, the government is getting less oversight.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0802f41ac0a301437e563692926a443b.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General","datePublished":"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858"},"wordCount":2569,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Agencies"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858","name":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-21T16:43:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b654d22831f7b1cadb34b814144dce23-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1623,"caption":"FILE - In this May 2, 2012, file photo, Federal agents with the Office of Inspector General load computers seized from Willsand Home Health Agency, Inc. into a van in Miami. Over the past decade, South Florida has become less renowned for \"old school\" drug shootouts than for scammers stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the government, banks and individuals. South Florida has become the nation's organized fraud capital. (AP Photo\/Alan Diaz, File)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=2858#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Watchdogs to \u2018Lapdogs\u2019: Inside the Trumpification of Agencies\u2019 Inspectors General"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}