USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong Dismissed by Trump Administration
Image credit: USDA Office of the Inspector General
The Trump Administration has fired 17 Inspectors General serving different federal agencies, including Phyllis K. Fong, J.D., who held the role of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) since 2002.
As Inspector General, Ms. Fong was the senior official responsible for audits, evaluations, investigations, and law enforcement efforts relating to USDA's programs and operations. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides leadership in promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in federal programs and addressing fraud, waste, and abuse.
As an example of her work related to food safety, in October 2024, Ms. Fong called for an internal investigation of USDA following the deadly listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meats. After USDA inspection reports revealed an unresolved history of serious food safety and hygiene noncompliances at Boar’s Head’s Jarratt, Virginia plant where the products implicated in the outbreak were made, Ms. Fong launched an internal investigation to determine what went wrong in USDA’s handling of the repeated violations found at the plant.
Other Inspector Generals who were fired from agencies that have some oversight over parts of U.S. food safety/foodborne illness response and agriculture include Christi Grimm, M.P.A., who served as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—under which the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fall—and Sean O’Donnell, M.S., J.D., who was Inspector General of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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