President Trump, Stop Acting Like You Own the Place

Nobody in business likes auditors: They can be intrusive, meddlesome second-guessers. But managers of publicly traded companies understand that independent auditing is essential, because it protects shareholders against fraud and wasteful spending — and maintains public confidence in the enterprise.

President Trump spent most of his career managing a private company. Public accountability wasn’t a big part of Trump’s business education, and maybe that helps explain his approach to the presidency. He acts as though government employees work for him, not for the public.

The latest evidence of Trump’s disdain for accountability was his ouster Friday night of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. He was the fifth IG Trump has sacked in the past six weeks, including inspectors general for the intelligence community and the departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation and Defense. The last two officials also helped oversee the government’s $3.4 trillion pandemic relief spending.

“These firings appear to be retaliatory for the work the IGs were conducting. This strikes at the very core of the guarantees of independence built into the Inspector General Act,” argues Roslyn Mazer, former IG for the intelligence community and the Federal Trade Commission and a leading authority on the subject. She warns: “If Congress capitulates to these firings and fails to pass legislation with greater protections, it will signal the end to IG independence.”

Trump briefly explained Linick’s removal in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying he lacked “fullest confidence” in him. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told The Post that Linick’s work wasn’t “additive” for the department; Brian Bulatao, one of Pompeo’s top aides complained about “a pattern of unauthorized disclosures” and Linick’s refusal to embrace Pompeo’s “ethos statement.”