Navigating the Trump administration as an inspector general

Just days into his latest run as president, Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general acoss the federal government. The move not only set off alarms in the government oversight and accountability community, but it also set an early precedent for how the Trump administration would deal with any entities he saw as threatening to his agenda as president. Diana Shaw has spent much of her career in the shoes of federal inspectors general, having served as acting IG of the State Department and a variety of roles in DHS’s Office of the IG, before retiring from government in 2024. So she knows as good as anyone, through her continued connections and deep experience, how IGs in the Trump administration are navigating the current dynamic, what’s at play as they maneuver around the work of the DOGE and how things wil continue to unfold. Now a partner at DC law firm Wiley Rein LLP, Shaw joins the Daily Scoop to discuss all that as well as her thoughts on one of the biggest IG cases: the Pentagon’s probe into the secretary of defense’s use of commercial messaging applications like Signal to conduct official business. The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency team is examining the Navy’s software enterprise, the service’s chief information officer said Tuesday. The review comes as the administration is undertaking a broad look at the Defense Department’s and other federal agencies’ contracts and workforce in search of what it considers wasteful spending and opportunities for savings. After accessing data at the Department of Homeland Security, including systems operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency now appears to be behind a new effort to shrink the agency’s staff. On Monday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem sent a message to employees encouraging them to leave the agency, according to an email viewed by FedScoop. The message explained details of deferred resignation, voluntary early retirement, and voluntary separation incentive payment programs. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.