Dozens of Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Friday demanding that he reinstate the 18 inspectors general he fired in one night last week.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., led a group of 38 Democrat senators informing Trump that he "violated the law" by firing the IGs without "either the mandatory 30-day notice or a rationale for their removal."
"Because your actions violated the law, these Inspectors General should be reinstated immediately, until such time as you have provided in writing 'the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons' for each of the affected Inspectors General and the 30-day notice period has expired," they wrote in the letter.
Trump fired the IGs on Jan. 24, saying the next day that "it's a very common thing to do," The Washington Post reported.
"I don't know them," he said. "But some people thought that some were unfair or some were not doing their job. It's a very standard thing to do."
Earlier this week, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called on Trump to "immediately" provide the lawfully required substantive rationale and to share the names of each official who will serve in an interim capacity — and noted the law requires 30 days' notice before the government watchdogs can be fired.
"The law must be followed. The communication to Congress must contain more than just broad and vague statements," the senators wrote.
"While the President has the authority to remove Inspectors General from office, Congress has established clear requirements to ensure such removals are transparent and are not politicized," wrote the Democrat senators on Friday.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.