One of 17 government watchdogs ousted by President Trump said that the move was a “a potentially existential threat” to a crucial government oversight tool. 

“I view it as a potentially existential threat, with respect to the main oversight mechanism that we have in our federal government system,” Mark Greenblatt, the former top watchdog at the Interior Department, told The Hill on Tuesday.

Ultimately, Greenblatt said, what the ultimate impact of the firings of the watchdogs comes down to is “who President Trump nominates and appoints in these inspector general positions.”

“It all boils down to their independence: are they going to be independent of mind and spirit,” he added. 

He also warned that Trump’s move could set a precedent that creates a tit-for-tat, with future Democratic presidents having the ability to make similar moves. 

“We run the risk of having a vicious cycle of politicization of the inspector general positions, which, to me, will ultimately … eviscerate the value that the entire construct provides us now,” he said. 

Greenblatt was appointed to the role by Trump during his prior administration and was confirmed in a bipartisan vote. During his tenure, the inspector general’s office produced reports that both implicated and cleared Trump officials at various points. 

Notably in 2021, the office found that protesters were not cleared from Lafayette Park because Trump wanted a photo-op. However, it also dinged Trump officials on ethics in other reports. 

“I would be confident that if there were an individual review of my work as Inspector General at the Department of the Interior, that it would be held up as fair, objective and independent throughout,” he said, noting that at one point, Trump thanked him for “Completely and Totally exonerating me in the clearing of Lafayette Park!”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the firings during a briefing on Tuesday, saying that Trump “was within his executive authority” to ax the watchdogs.

“He is the executive of the executive branch and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to,” Leavitt said.