Another day, another chilling development in the fight against waste, fraud and abuse.

President Trump, who removed 17 inspectors general (including me) at the beginning of his term, continued his attack earlier this month by demoting the acting inspector general of the Department of Education — simply because she was doing her job.

That job is especially important right now, in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration can proceed with dismantling the Education Department.

When agencies engage in major muscle movements like the expected shuttering of the Department of Education, inspectors general can add real value through fair, objective and independent oversight. Therefore, changing the acting inspector general under the circumstances is a major issue.

Here’s the backstory. In March, the secretary of Education announced that the Department of Education would be reducing its workforce by 50 percent, and the president issued an executive order weeks later directing the secretary to begin the process of shuttering the agency entirely.

In April, the Department of Education’s acting inspector general announced that her office was initiating a series of reviews to examine the effect of the Trump administration's overhaul of the department on its........

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