Sen. Adam Schiff is working to introduce legislation that will help keep a closer eye on the president’s conduct as he continues to carve an explosive path through his second stint in office.
The California Democrat told CBS News that he and other Senate Democrats plan to announce a bill on Wednesday requiring an inspector general to oversee the Executive Office of the President. “Inspectors general conduct important independent oversight throughout different agencies. But the same is not true when it comes to the president and the White House,” Schiff told the network.
“That should change, regardless of who is in office,” he added, saying the proposals would “ensure no president or administration is above the law,” and hold the White House “accountable by rooting out fraud and abuse.”
Schiff has long numbered among the president’s most loathed Democratic Party nemeses. The president has relentlessly demeaned the senator as “Shifty Schiff,” “Watermelon Head,” and “Pencil Neck.”
Over the years, Trump’s ire has been repeatedly directed Schiff’s way for a number of perceived offenses that have included pushing claims of alleged collusion between the MAGA camp and the Kremlin ahead of the 2016 election, as well as participating in a congressional probe into Trump’s alleged role in the Jan. 6 uprising and the GOP’s links to far-right extremist groups.
While efforts to establish an inspector general overseeing the president’s office have stalled before, the group behind the new bill claims the measures have acquired a deeper urgency since Trump took office in January.
Not least given Trump’s decision to fire over a dozen federal inspectors general just days into his second term, the staggering array of lawsuits alleging his actions and policies thus far have proven illegal or unconstitutional (or both), and the mounting concerns over the potential conflict of interest between his family’s businesses and his role as a public servant.
The bill to create a new White House watchdog is unlikely to be brought to a vote by Republican leadership in Congress. Schiff is nevertheless championing the proposed legislation as a necessary check on “corruption.”
“Inspectors General hold agencies accountable by rooting out criminality, fraud and abuse, but the White House doesn’t have one…yet,” Schiff wrote in a post on X. “I’m working to change that. My new bill would create an IG overseeing the Executive Office of the President and crack down on corruption in the Oval Office and beyond.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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